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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



Banquet of Palacios. 



A COMEDY. 



BY 



CHARLES LEONARD MOORE. 



A 




C. L. MOORE, 

305 Walnut Street, Philadelphia. 

1889. 









Copyright, 1889, 
By Charles Leonard Moore. 



All rights reserved. 



i.Z-3 




PERSONS. 

Pedro Palacios. 

Juan Flores Falcon. 

Padre Pacifico. 

Padre Cyprian. 

Lieutenant Espiritu Santos de la Torre. 

Senor Herrara. 

Senor Barboza. 

Marquis Luna de Silva. 

Jose Cayalho. 

Luis Alyes. 

Apparitio. 

Titan Pape. 

Senora Fereira Herrara. 

Jasmin. 

Erere. 

Cerita. 

Boy, Officers, Servants, etc. 

Place of drama, Para, at the mouth of the 
Amazons. Time, the present. 



Banquet of Palacios. 



SCENE I. 

A hut in Para. Cerita in a hammock. 

Falcon. (Without.) Cerita! 

Cerita. (Waking.) A spider's 
web woven o'er my face ! What 
noise is that? Who calls? 

Falcon. Flores, Cerita; your 
brother Flores ! 

Cerita. And I dreaming of dis- 
asters. Oh, Flores, my door should 
dance itself open to you. 

Falcon. Hold, my child ! Not so 
fast. The door is well enough as it 
is. My planet is in occultation. 
My dwelling-place is the extreme 
dark. 

l* 5 



G BANQUET OF PAL AGIOS. 

Cerita. What do you mean, 
Plores? What mischief make- 
believe are you at ? 

Falcon. Alas, I pretend nothing. 
I am absolutely simple. Cerita, you 
know Senor Cavalho, my host, the 
landlord of the Hotel Belem ? 

Cerita. What, that round, red, 
flaming gentleman ! Know him ; 
why, I wash for him. Nobody in 
Para has such clean linen as he. I 
do it out of gratitude because of his 
kindness to you. 

Falcon. Gratitude, Cerita; I am 
damned with gratitude. I have 
been at his charges now for eighteen 
months and only hopes have paid 
the score. My bill has fattened 
faster than I. It is swollen by the 
dropsy of interest, — twelve per cent, 
a month and a percentage upon that 
per cent. By Our Lady, Cerita, I 
am a sum in compound interest. 
Simple as I stand here I have eaten 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 7 

off him until I am the sole asset 
of his establishment. I represent 
a herd of oxen, forty sheep, and 
a whole poultry-yard of hens and 
pigeons. Why, I can crow and flap 
my wings — so. At the last day I 
shall resolve back into these my ele- 
ments. The Lord shall see herds 
coming out of me, every separate 
winged or walking thing of them, 
stamped with the inscription " Jose 
Cavalho." 

Cerita. But, Flores, if it is as bad 
as this, why don't he send you away ? 

Falcon. I am grown too valuable. 
I am the whole savings of the poor 
man's lifetime. Why, he turns pale 
if I sit in a draught, and if I take a 
third glass of wine he sends for the 
doctor. "lis a new fear to have one's 
bank threatened with apoplexy. He 
borrows money on me, and I go about 
like a bill of exchange. I am at- 
tended by a retinue in the daytime, 



8 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

and at night my groom of the 
chamber carries off my clothes for 
the better security of my person. 
And that is why I keep the door 
closed. 

Cerita. Why, Flores, you are 
not 

Falcon. Bare as a statue, naked 
as a handful of water. Night is my 
only tailor. I have bolted from my 
prison of hospitality. I am free 
though unfeathered. My soul leaps 
within me. Oh, Cerita, let me recite 
you a poem. 

Cerita. But, Flores, you are cold. 
I hear you shivering. And then, 
some one may see you. 

Falcon. Cerita, the night-dews 
are glittering on me, but the sun is 
just about to shake its eastern gates 
apart. In five minutes I shall be 
observed. I ask you for friendship 
and a pair of trousers. 

Cerita. Why, yes ! Here is a 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 9 

linen suit belonging to Lieutenant 
Espiritu Santos de la Torre. He 
will not expect it for a week. Open 
and take it. 

Falcon. What do they do in 
heaven for angels, Cerita? God be 
praised that Lieutenant Santos in his 
conceit of greatness makes his tailor 
measure him for his rank rather than 
for his person. His garments are as 
wide as the great Plaza. 

Cerita. I had better be godmother to 
a brood of parrots, or even Our Lady 
of the Chapel with forty thousand 
diseases to cure, than sister to such 
a mischief-making innocent as this. 
Wit crept into his brain once and 
pushed wisdom out of doors, and so 
I've had to dance. 

Enter FALCON. 

Falcon. Behold me, Cerita, bris- 
tling with brilliancy. (Pomjiously.) 
Do not take me for an immortal, 



10 BANQUET OF PALAC10S. 

child, for well I know that 'tis I who 
look upon immortal things, — youth 
and beauty and unfailing love. 

Cerita. La, sir, how you talk to a 
poor washerwoman. But are you 
really my brother Flores? Why, 
the boy is beautiful. 

Falcon. The sun is in the air and 
hope is in my heart. Oh, I can hear 
my blood sing ! I am free ! I am 
young ! Dance, Cerita, dance ! Oh, 
I must recite you a poem ! Where 
is my breakfast ? 

Cerita. There isn't any. 

Falcon. None. What did you do 
with that fish I sent you a week 
ago? 

Cerita. I lived off of it two days. 
Then, if the neighbors had not taken 
it away, I should have had to move. 

Falcon. Fool, ass that I am, why 
do I talk of breakfasts ? I will get 
you breakfast, dinner, a year of ban- 
quets. My troubles have driven 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 11 

prosperity from my head. Do you 
know that yesterday I finished my 
great book, Silves Amazonas ? Be- 
fore the ink was dry I had it at 
Seiior Barboza's, the publisher. You 
know him ? He is very wise, for he 
has been saving up his wit for half 
a century with his mouth shut. He 
broods on great thoughts and begets 
them. He sits on his authors as a 
hen does on eggs and each one 
hatches out a phoenix. I did not 
see him, but I left my book, and I 
think he sat up all night to read it. 
As soon as it is decently daylight he 
will send me a letter of praise and a 
purse of money. 

Cerita. Dear, generous man. 

Falcon. Generous ! Well, he has 
a bargain. That is all right, and 
now I have another confidence for 
you. I met a girl in the market- 
place yesterday. What are you 
laughing at? There's nothing odd 



12 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

in a girl. It was this way. Titan 
Pape, the old Cearense beggar, was 
being jostled by the crowd. I sprang 
forward to help him, when up rose at 
his right hand a vision, girl or angel, 
I know not which, and drew him 
away. She had on a sheepskin robe, 
and that in rags, so that you could see 
she was made of solid ivory. Hdr 
eyes 

Cerita. Yes, I know. Her eyes, 
crystalline fountains, glassing gold- 
en stars. Her lips, rose-petals by 
their perfume pushed apart. Her 
hair 

Falcon. Why, where did you get 
those epithets, sister ? 

Cerita. Out of those verses you 
made me carry Senorita Jasmin yes- 
terday. Oh, Flores, let me recite you 
a poem. 

Falcon. Jasmin ! Faith, Cerita, 
all my astronomy is for twin stars. 
Erere, Jasmin, Jasmin, Erere, which 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 13 

shall it be? Shall I toss for a 
choice? Have you a coin, Cerita, 
to play (Edipus to this riddle ? 

Cerita. 'Tis my last one, Flores. 
But some one knocks. Enter, Senor. 

Enter Boy. 

Oh, Flores, here is your fortune. 

Boy. Senor Barboza returns you 
this package, Senor. 

Falcon. My manuscript, and un- 
opened ! But the letter, the letter ! 

Boy. I have no letter, nothing but 
the package. 

Falcon. Oh, very well. Here's to 
pay your trouble. 

Boy. Thank you, Senor. [Exit. 

Cerita. Flores, why do you stare 
so stupidly? Say something, or I 
will shake you. 

Falcon. Is this all ? My book, my 
Silves Amazonas, is this your treat- 
ment? Ye sunny water-glades, ye 
cool wood interiors, ye gaudy-col- 
2 



14 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

ored haciendas, ye seringeiro huts 
set on a single post like a stork on 
one leg, ye fisher-folk, ye brown 
girls with only one garment which 
somebody else is wearing half the 
time, ye fat Padres deep in the 
dialectics of drink, ye festas and re- 
ligious processions, all the pictured 
visions of my life, is this your treat- 
ment ? Now the world shall pay for 
this. I write no more. 

Cerita. Oh, Flores, do not grieve. 
This is but a moment's misfortune. 
Envy strikes in the dark at you. 

Falcon. Do you think so, Cerita? 
I always valued your opinion. This 
may be malice. 

Cerita. Not a doubt of it. 

Falcon. Then I'm damned if I 
don't write. There's matter in my 
head. I will begin, straightway, to- 
night, a poem of one hundred thou- 
sand lines. The world shall suffer 
for this. 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 15 

Cerita. Ay, my dear brother. 
That's revenge. 

Falcon. Cerita, you shall judge. 
Listen to this piece ; 'tis a pastoral 
of Monte Alegre. 

Cerita. By Our Lady, no ! Flores, 
I do not mind having nothing to eat, 
but poetry makes me thin. Besides, 
I have got to go out and get some 
breakfast for you. 

Falcon. Breakfast ! Beautiful ! 
But how, Cerita ? I gave your last 
coin away. 

Cerita. Why, you know this is Beg- 
gars' Saturday. Any one is privi- 
leged to beg to-day. I have a dis- 
guise here in the corner. See, I put 
on this sheepskin cloak and leather 
hat and forthwith I am a Cearense 
exile, and sure to pouch a pound of 
coppers before you can make three 
good wishes. Farewell, fair brother. 

\Fxit. 

Falcon. Aclios, dear child. Flores, 



16 BANQUET OF PALAC10S. 

if it were night, you and I would go 
out and sit on the rocks in the river 
and think till we slipped off. Being 
day, we had best make a good reso- 
lution and hang ourself. What the 
devil ! my body belongs to Senor 
Cavalho and my clothes to Lieuten- 
ant Santos. There's nothing of my 
own but my soul. Hanging cannot 
hurt the soul. Yet hold ! Laying 
violent hands on another man's 
property is theft. Well, then, I do 
not take their effects away: only 
withdraw what is my own. Clearly, 
hanging was invented for my case. 
Come, can I find a rope. Ay, this 
hammock-cord will do. 



Enter Jose Cavalho, bursting through the 
door. 

Cavalho. Is Senor Falcon Oh, 

my heart ! Let me get my breath ! I 

have run a mile. Is Juan Flores 

I burn, I choke ! Air, a fan, a 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 17 

fan! Will you let me die at your 
feet? Be sure they fire nine volleys 
over my grave, for I was a soldier. 
Oh, a chair! 1 have not run thus 
since the battle of Villa Rica ! Is 
Juan Flores Falcon at home ? Are 
you his brother, Senor? A fan, a 
fan! 

Falcon. What do you want with a 
desperate man, Senor Cavalho ? Had 
you been a minute later you had 
talked with my ghost. 

Cavalho. What, Flores ! You, my 
mad maker of rhymes ! Coo, coo, 
coo, my dove. Come, my pretty one, 
and let me embrace you. Infamous 
rogue, how you have treated me ! 
My voice is hoarse calling you pet 
names through the streets of Para. 
What did you run away for ? Come 
back and I will chain you in your 
room and feed you on turtle and 
dulces. Remember the twelve hun- 
dred railreis you owe me. My apo- 

2* 



18 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

plexy shall go in your bill. Beast of 
a dog, how will you requite my care ? 
When Gil Tirso, the cook, came 
with his garlic-flavored breath and 
his large fat tears, and told me you 
were flown, my heart sank drowning 
within me and the water bubbled to 
my eyes. Oh, how can you repay 
me my love ? 

Falcon. Behold this rope, Senor. 
I will pay all my debts with it, down 
to the debt of nature. 

Cavalho. What a horribly signifi- 
cant hammock-cord ! No ! no ! no ! 
Falcon ! Hanging is the worst indis- 
cretion a man can commit. Come, 
you only owe me a thousand milreis. 
You would not hang yourself for a 
thousand milreis? 

Falcon. It is inevitable. My house 
is at your disposition, Senor, but 
pray give me five minutes alone. 

Cavalho. Why, man, you know me. 
'Twas but a jest about the thousand 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 19 

milreis. Seven hundred is all there 
is between us. You make my blood 
run cold with that string. 

Falcon. Senor, I was half in heaven 
when you came, and I must be rude 
to tell you that you delay my bliss. 

Cavalho. Well, if it must be so, I 
take my leave. And this commission 
I have in my pocket must be filled 
up anew. I wonder who will get the 
place, Moraes or Silva ? 

Falcon. What commission are you 
talking about ? 

Cavalho. A commission as third 
assistant deputy customs officer made 
out in your name. But you are past 
caring for such things now. Well, 
fare you well. Remember me to my 
debtors in the lower world. 

Falcon. Not so fast, old boy. If 
there is any premium paid for me to 
live, I can dispense with dying as 
well as any man. Is it true ? Have 
you a place for me ? 



20 BANQUET OF PAL AGIOS. 

Cavalho. Behold. 

Falcon. You have seen a wreath of 
cigarette-smoke? Puff! it rises and 
dissolves and disappears. That was 
me. That was the Falcon of the 
past, — Falcon the poet. He is gone, 
and the real Falcon, the Falcon of 
the present, stands before you. The 
assistant collector of customs, that 
is; the politician, the friend of the 
people, the supporter of the govern- 
ment, the deputy, the President of a 
Province, that is to be. Oh, I will 
be great. I will lead a revolution. 
My ships shall sweep past Tabatinga 
and conquer Peru, and possess the 
Amazon from its source to the sea. 
Senor, you know the great island of 
Marajo? Well, I am thinking of 
the time when that island shall serve 
as the pedestal for a vast equestrian 
statue which shall dominate these 
rivers and show a hundred miles at 
sea : a statue which shall bear upon 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 21 

its base the inscription — Juan Flores 
Falcon, Deliverer of the Ama- 
zons. 

Cavalho. Deliverer from what, 
Flores ? 

Falcon. From what ? Oh, any- 
thing. That doesn't matter. 

Cavalho. I have made an arrange- 
ment, Flores, to draw one-half your 
salary every month until my account 
is settled. 

Falcon. Well thought of, Senor. 
But I can better the plan. You will 
become familiar with the paymaster, 
and 'tis a pity I should interfere. 
Draw all my salary and advance me 
two hundred milreis immediately. 

Cavalho. Do you desire it ? 

Falcon. It is a necessity. 

Cavalho. Well, you compel me to 
follies. I will return to my house 
and send the money to you at once. 

Falcon. This is business, Senor, 
yet I am obliged to you. 



22 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Cavalho. Well, adios. If this day 
does not do for me, you may be 
saved. My heart is in my mouth 
yet, and I am melting away like a 
spendthrift's fortune. I must go, I 
must go ! [Exit. 

Falcon. Well, I am snatched from 
the fire with scarce a smell of brim- 
stone on me. Falcon, I begin to 
respect you. Evidently I am pre- 
served for great purposes. (A knock 
at the door.) What a timid knock is 
that ! 'Tis a begging knock. Beg- 
gars come to a beggar's door. Enter, 
Senor. How are you, father? 

Enter Titan Pape and En^nii. 

What, Titan Pape ! Erere ! 

ErhL Senor, we ask alms. 

Falcon. Welcome, Senorita! Wel- 
come, Senor ! Pray sit you in this 
hammock, Ererfe. Senor, you take 
me at an unfortunate time. My 
house is yet unfurnished. But the 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 23 

designs are all made for a general 
upholstering. In this corner should 
be a large wicker-sofa. Here are to 
be leather chairs. There an arm- 
chair of silk. I cannot offer you 
these, Senor, but be seated, I beg 
you, — sit at large, sit where you will. 

Titan Pape. Senor, I thank you. 
Will you not sit first ? 

Falcon. After you. Or if you 
desire to stand, I am at your service. 
Well, let us stand. 

Titan Pape. Oh, Senor, I prefer it. 

Falcon. My cigarettes are yours, 
Senor, but I have not got them from 
the customs wharf — they come from 
Manaos. Yours, I doubt not, are 
excellent. 

Titan Pape. They are, but, alas, 
this unfortunate child forgot to bring 
them forth this morning. The heed- 
less gayety of youth, Senor ! 

Falcon. It is nothing. Senor, do 
you find this climate agree with you ? 



24 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Titan Pape. Everything that be- 
longs to you is excellent, Senor. 

Falcon. But do you not long for 
your home in Ceara? 

Titan Pape. Home is any place 
where the government feeds you. I 
never knew it to rain rice in Ceara. 

Falcon. But when the government 
withdraws its support — the milreis a 
day which it doles out to you exiles — 
will you not suffer in this strange 
country ? Perhaps you may have to 
work. 

Titan Pape. Impossibilities are im- 
possible, Senor. 

Falcon. But you have a large fam- 
ily to provide for on the government 
pittance ? 

Titan Pape. Alas, yes ! Seven chil- 
dren. 

Falcon. And this great girl is your 
eldest daughter ? Erere is her name, 
I think ? 

Titan Pape. Erere. 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 25 

Falcon. A charming girl. But she 
eats, Senor. Her teeth are all sound. 

Titan Pape. A mere trifle. 

Falcon. Ah, there the father 
speaks, — one willing to make any 
sacrifice for those he loves. But we 
who look on can pity you. Her 
clothes, the little ornaments she re- 
quires, the accomplishments she 
must possess, how can you provide 
them all ? 

Titan Pape. I deny her nothing, 
Senor. 

Falcon. That may easily be seen. 
But do you owe no duty to yourself? 

Titan Pape. Erere is a good girl. 

Falcon. There is nothing in the 
world better than girls. 

Titan Pape. She — she rolls my 
cigarettes for me. 

Falcon. But you have another 
daughter ? 

Titan Pape. Erere is very beautiful. 

Falcon. Do you think so ? 

3 



26 BANQUET OF PALAC10S. 

Titan Pape. Her hair is thick. 

Falcon. Very coarse and uneven. 

Titan Pape. She is as straight and 
slender as an assai palm. 

Falcon. Alas ! much too thin. 

Titan Pape. Her skin is as smooth 
as the water twenty feet under the 
surface. 

Falcon. I don't like that yellowish 
color. 

Titan Pape. Why, Senor, I am 
that color myself! 

Falcon. Senor, there are doubtless 
many little things which the govern- 
ment forgets to provide you ? 

Titan Pape. Alas, yes ! 

Falcon. Some clothes, I suppose ? 

Titan Pape. Clothes ! No ; as you 
see, I have clothes. 

Falcon. "What is it you lack, then ? 

Titan Pape. Tobacco ! 

Falcon. Nothing more ? 

Titan Pape. A great deal of to- 
bacco. 



BANQUET OF PAL AGIOS. 27 

Falcon. How much, Seilor ? 

Titan Tape. An arroba of tobacco. 

Falcon. Oh, Senor, that is extrava- 
gant. Consider, Erere is only fifteen. 
An arroba of tobacco ! Impossible ! 

Titan Tape. An arroba of tobacco. 

Falcon. Come, two or three rolls. 

Titan Tape. An arroba of tobacco. 

Falcon. Why, Senor, that is worth 
forty milreis. There are a thousand 

girls in Para Are you mad, or do 

you only make believe ? Come, you 
infect me with your disease. Half 
your demand and the business is 
done. The whole or nothing ! Well, 
'tis a bargain. I was never one to 
check and chaffer at a price. Do 
you know Senor Cavalho ? I will 
write you an order on him. Give 
him this and he will buy you your 
estate of smoke. [Exit Titan Pape.] 
What, you phantom, you last issue 
of old Pharaoh's dream, have you 
such alacrity left in you ? Your legs 



28 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

clatter like castanets. You disc set 
edgewise, you swift shadow, hurry 
or you are late. Faster, faster ! there 
is only one arroba of tobacco left in 
Para and that is being bargained for. 
Well, you are out of sight. Now for 
my purchase. Wonderful Erere. 
Frhe. My master. 

Enter Luis Alves. 

Alves. Flores! a thousand par- 
dons ! I am not used to knock. 

Falcon. 'Tis no matter, Luis. This 
child is my Secretary. 

Alves. An honorable post, Seno- 
rita. Can you read and write ? 

Erere. No, Senor. 

Falcon. 'Tis not necessary. Fame 
is a matter of memory. I am to 
write a poem of one hundred thou- 
sand lines and she is to remember it. 

Aires. Poor child ! I cannot re- 
member my own verses, and I don't 
like anybody else's. 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 29 

Falcon. AVhat have you got, Luis, 
in that roll ? 

Alves. Oh, Flores, something that 
will please you, something you must 
praise. 'Tis the design for the water 
palace in our new Para. 

Falcon. Have you abandoned the 
theatre and the cathedral ? 

Alves. For the moment. A feel- 
ing, I know not what, seized me, 
and I turned to this. Examine the 
design. ? Tis beauty trained to use, 
simplicity made splendid. The pal- 
ace fronts for one mile on the har- 
bor. Its lines are massive, yet 
ethereally light. The elevation is 
flat, yet there are deep recesses 
where shadows may lurk at mid-day, 
and the whole facade is enriched 
with niches, statues, friezes, in in- 
finite procession. Great stairs sweep 
from it here and there to the broad 
paved platform of the quay. On the 
ramparts overlooking the bay stand 
3* 



30 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

or crouch, in many attitudes, the 
carved figures of mighty lions. 

Falcon. Lions ? Horses, Luis ! 

Alves. What do you know about 
it, Flores ? The design calls for lions. 

Falcon. Why, 'tis plain to the 
poorest imagination. Here on the 
parapet the horses, a multitude, stand 
tense, eager, straining with rivalry, 
their eyes flashing, their forms leap- 
ing forth into the air; while below 
them, in and out, sweep the massy 
creatures of the sea, with curling 
manes and flowing limbs, charging, 
squadron after squadron, to break 
against your sea-wall here. It must 
be horses, Luis ! 

Alves. Am I the architect or you, 
Flores ? You do not know what the 
harmony of the plan requires. I 
think I have mastered my art. 

Falcon. You will master no art un- 
til you master your conceit. What ! 
will you compare your bungling 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 31 

handicraftsman skill with my kin- 
dling genius to conceive ? Is it not 
I who suggested the whole plan for 
the rebuilding of the city ? Is it not 
I who found Para mud and left it 
marble ? I will not quarrel with you, 
but horses on that sea-wall or it shall 
not be built. 

Alves. They must be lions or I 
refuse the business. 

Falcon. You make me angry. 
Horses ! 

Alves. Never, Senor. Lions ! 

Falcon. Be no more my friend. 

Alves. We are enemies forever. 

Enter Officer. 

Officer. Which of you, Senores, is 
Luis Alves ? 

Alves. That is my name. 

Officer. I arrest you at the suit of 
Senor Palacios. 

Alves. Alas ! must I lie in 
prison ? 



32 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Officer. At Seiior Palacios' pleas- 
ure. 

Falcon. What! arrest my friend, 
and in my house ! Never ! ( Throw- 
ing himself on the officer.) Fly, Luis, 
fly ! Feathered be your heels. 

[Exit Alves. 

Officer. Help, there, without ! 

Enter Soldiers. 

Officer. Seize this man. You shall 
pay for your outrage, Senor. 

Falcon. Fate, thou art a plagiarist 
to poets. Shades of Tasso and Cer- 
vantes, I follow you to prison. 



SCENE II. 

Court-yard of the Prison, 

Enter Padre Pacifico and Lieutenaist 

Espiritu Santos de la Torre. 

Pacifico. Cyprian, indeed! What 
does Cyprian know about religion ? 
All he knows is how to go about 
doing good. 

Santos. But, Padre. 

Pacifico. Ay, I know your way. 
You will walk with me and talk with 
me, and use my spoon for your food 
and my bench for your bed, but the 
moment you have any interesting 
little peccadillo to confess, any of 
your immoral voyages and cam- 
paigns of Cupid, off you go to Cyp- 
rian. And why ? Because he is 
stern and haggard, with flame in his 
eye and fury in his mien, and hates 
the transgressions of the flesh. He 

33 



34 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

preaches nothing but penance and 
purification. Now, I am altogether 
different. Had I the making of a 
new rubric, eating and drinking and 
the kisses of lovers should be the 
sole ceremonies of the church. 
What ! do you think that because 
I am old and a priest I dream of 
nothing but martyrs frying on a 
gridiron and the unprofitable noth- 
ingness of cherubs ? No, no, the vis- 
ions that troubled San Antonio have 
no terrors for me. And wine! Aglass 
of wine to me is as a flight of sing- 
ing-birds with smooth carols. Yet 
you carry your confessions to Cyp- 
rian, and I don't listen to a decent 
sin once in a fortnight. 

Santos. You mistake me, Padre. 

Paciftco. Can Cyprian preach you a 
sermon, Senor ? Are his panegyrics 
possible, his orations endurable, his 
funeral speeches fit? Does he know 
anything of the ordering of language 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 35 

— language flowing as air, fixed as 
marble? Can he take seven indif- 
ferent words and by the mere con- 
junction or apposition of them so 
heighten their beauty that they shall 
show like moon-winged angels ? Do 
you call his snort eloquence, his 
clumsiness elocution ? Yet souls are 
committed to his charge. 

Santos. Hear me, Padre. 

Pacifico. Or is there anything 
deeper in him, anything hidden 
from ordinary apprehension ? Noth- 
ing, or I lie. Can he resolve you 
the difference between First Cause 
and Final Cause ? Can he argue you 
the question of universals, universalia 
ante rem, universalia post rem, univer- 
salia in re ? Can he discuss wherein 
substance differs from matter and 
phenomena from things? Can he 
resolve you how an angel of God 
may twirl the earth on its thumb- 
nail yet be able to dance with twenty 



36 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

thousand of its fellows on the plat- 
form of a needle's point ? No, not 
for his life. Yet he has the custom 
of the confessional. 

Santos. Padre, Padre, faith I love 
to listen to you, Padre. We men 
of deeds, how words sway us ! My 
sword is my tongue. Well, well, 
you say justly. I have been one of 
them, — a dog, a very dog. There's 
a little girl at Tabatinga could tell 
you, — and faith a widow here in Para. 
But that is nothing. On my word, 
Padre, I do not go to Cyprian on 
such matters. Cyprian is a great 
physician, and he has herbs for all 
hurts. I am not old, Padre. I was 
only fifty seventeen years ago Fast 
Easter, but the lustiness of my youth 
begins to wane a little. The flood 
is almost at the turn. Not that I 
fail. Behold my legs, — saw you ever 
such marble pillars ? — and I have one 
tooth, Padre, as sound as a coin. 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 37 

But a multitude of little ills assail 
me. I am flushed. I am cold. I 
cannot sit, or stand, or lie down, or 
stay in the house or out of doors, or 
— or anything. So I go every two 
hours to Cyprian, and he feels my 
pulse and looks at my tongue, and 
prescribes for me. That is all, and, 
oh, Providence be praised, here he 
comes now. Cyprian, dear Cyprian, 
will you look at my tongue ? 

Enter Padre Cyprian. 

Cyprian. In a moment, Coman- 
dante. Pacifico ! 

Paeifico. My brother. 

Cyprian. Know you that girl within ? 

Pacifico. I know of no girl, Cyp- 
rian; girlhood comes not within 
these gates. 

Cyprian. She who lies before the 
cell of the last installed prisoner, 
the poet Falcon, and refuses to de- 
part, know you her name ? 
4 



38 BANQUET OF PAL AGIOS. 

Santos. Indeed, Cyprian, I think 
you mean the daughter of Titan 
Pape, the Cearense beggar. She 
came to me desiring admittance and 
detention. I refused. She said that 
Falcon had bought her for an arroba 
of tobacco. I could not make that 
a cause for her arrest. She said she 
belonged to Falcon, that she was the 
property of Falcon, that Falcon was 
her master, and a dozen such itera- 
tions of irresponsibility. I grew tired 
of her clamor and gave her admis- 
sion. 

Paciftco. And is she within ? 

Cyprian. Crouched at the door of 
Falcon's cell. 

Paciftco. Spoke you with her ? 

Oyprian. I spoke, but she made 
no answer. 

Santos. Fll warrant it. Her tongue 
belongs to Falcon, and she'll give 
none of it to another. But come, 
Padre, let us talk of something that 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 39 

concerns us. My pulse is five beats 
higher than when I saw you earlier 
to-day. Do you think there is any 
danger ? 

Cyprian. It may be. What did 
you say her name was ? 

Santos. Erere. 

Cyprian. Erere! Erere! 

Pacifico. Cyprian, why do you start 
and stride up and down distractedly, 
and try that girl's name over in dif- 
ferent tones as if to make it musi- 
cal ? You, a dreamer of impossible 
divinities, a woman-hater by disillu- 
sion ! 

Cyprian. Women were made angels, 
and they themselves undo the crea- 
tion. But this child ! I cannot get 
her eyes out of my head. She is 
Truth itself. My soul recognizes 
her. Stay you here while I walk 
in the corridor awhile and cool my 
thoughts. 

Santos. Padre Cyprian, Padre Cyp- 



40 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

rian, wait until you prescribe for me ! 
Shall I take the red medicine from 
the little vial or green decoction out 
of the great bottle, or keep on with 
alternate draughts from the two glass 
vessels ? 

Cyprian. Off, fool ! 

Santos. What! 

Cyprian. Your medicine is all the 
same. 

Santos. What! 

Cyprian. Water differently col- 
ored. 

Santos. What! 

Cyprian. Away ! I must be alone. 

Santos. Oh, false friend! Oh, 
monstrous physician ! And I deemed 
myself in process of a cure. Was 
my gout cured by fraud ? my aching 
back straightened by perjury ? Have 
all my fevers, intermittent, remittent, 
and continuous, been cured by tinc- 
tured water? Alas! they are not 
cured. I feel them leaping back on 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 41 

me one by one. Oh, my knees, my 
back! My bead will burst! Help 
me, Pacifico. Rub my legs ! 

Pacifico. Cheer up, Comandante. 
This is only a trick of Cyprian's. 
You are cured, but he is vexed with 
you and would plague you with a 
dream of diseases. 

Santos. Do you really think so ? 

Pacifico. I am sure of it. But 
did you note Cyprian's manner? 
Thought you what it means ? 

Santos. Indeed, I thought of noth- 
ing but myself. 

Pacifico. He is in love. 

Santos. In love ! A priest in love ! 
And with whom ? 

Pacifico. With Erere ! 

Santos. What! a great Cearense 
beggar-girl ? 

Pacifico. With only half a chemise, 
and that in holes. 

Santos. No shoes on her feet. 

Pacifico. And his vows against it. 
4* 



42 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

But indeed he has needed no vows 
until now. Water is not more indif- 
ferent to my throat than woman to 
Cyprian. 

Santos. Why, he has it all to learn. 
I'll to him and give him a lesson. 
There was a little girl at Tabatinga 
loved me once. 

Pacijico. Nay, if you come to that, 
there was a gray nun at Villa 
Bella 

Santos. Loved you ! 

Pacijico. And why not ? 

Santos. Nothing! Indeed, she 
must have loved much if she loved 
you. 

Pacijico. Why, you spider's 
web 

Santos. Hush ! Here come visitors. 

Enter Pedro Palacios and Apparitio. 

Palacios. Apparitio ! 

Apparitio. Senor ! 

Palacios. Did you despatch the 



BANQUET OF PAL AGIOS. 43 

bills of lading for the seven cargoes 
to Portugal ? 

Apparitio. Yes, Senor. 

Palacios. Did you see about the 
deeds for the five acres of land 
fronting on the plaza for my town 
house ? 

Apparitio. Yes, Senor. 

Palacios. Did you tell Baron Ma- 
racajo that unless he appointed my 
cook's nephew as his private Secre- 
tary I would defeat him for the 
Presidency? 

Apparitio. Yes, Senor. 

Santos. Senores, may I ask your 
errand to this place ? 

Palacios. Go to my banker, Fereira, 
and tell him to buy me a steamboat 
for my guests to-morrow night. Bid 
Barboza, the publisher, be at my ban- 
quet. Get me a clean handkerchief, 
and buy me a hogshead of rose-water 
to dip it in. Why do you gape so, 
Senor Fool ? 



44 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Apparitio. To know which of these 
things to perform first. 

Santos. Senor, I demand to know 
why you enter here ? 

Palacios. Stay where you are, Ap- 
paritio. I can no more make use of 
you than I can of my shadow. What 
do you want, Sir Prison-plume. 

Santos. I, Senor, am Lieutenant 
Espiritu Santos de la Torre, Coman- 
dante of this prison. How and why 
do you break into it ? 

Palacios. Senor Lieutenant Coman- 
dante, do you know who I am ? 

Santos. Not at all. 

Palacios. Ah ! Apparitio, speak. 

Apparitio. This is Senor Pedro 
Palacios. 

Pacijico. Senor Palacios, pardon 
Lieutenant Santos. He lives retired 
as it were from the world, and has 
not become acquainted with your 
virtues. I am more in the circle of 
civilization, and know the sun of that 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 45 

horizon. Only a few days ago I 
dared address you a little oration , 
an encomium, a panegyric on your 
merits. 

Palacios. I don't want your enco- 
miums, and panegyrics, and stuff. 
Thank God, I have got a tongue and 
can praise myself. Apparitio ! 

Apparitio. Yes, Senor. 

Palacios. Have you the roll of my 
estate with you ? 'Tiswell. Listen, 
Master Comandante. You a lieu- 
tenant ! Why, I will hire an army 
only for the pleasure of kicking lieu- 
tenants. Padre, you are a scholar of 
comprehension and can understand 
me. But there are some who think 
me only an ordinary man. So Ap- 
paritio bears with him a list of my 
deeds and dignities for the informa- 
tion of such vulgar minds. Read ! 

Apparitio. 'Tis a day's tedious busi- 
ness to recount them all. 

Palacios. Never you mind; these 



46 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

gentlemen can have nothing better 
to employ them. 

Apparitio. First, the estate at Monte 
Alegre. Three mountains and a 
forest which it takes the sun two 
days to go around. Here are planta- 
tions of rubber and cocoa and coffee. 

Palacios. A mere trifle, but mark 
you what follows. 

Apparitio. Second, the island of 
Santarem, thronged with wide-horned 
cattle and haunted with innumerable 
sheep. » 

Palacios. You are too cold, Ap- 
paritio! You read as 'twere a 
catalogue of law cases. Put some 
emphasis in the recital. Read as it 
were your own. 

Apparitio. Third, the Province of 
Beni — terra-incognita — treasury of 
untold fortunes. 

Palacios. I hardly count this in 
my present possessions. 'Tie for 
my heirs, the Princes of the House 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 47 

of Palacios. But skip this outer 
fringe of properties, Apparitio, and 
come to the heart of the thing. 

Apparitio. The country-place at 
Olympos. A thousand acres of 
wooded heights and pastoral valleys. 
Sacred to sunlight and to birds. 
Armies of deer in the forest, and 
myriads of fish moving through their 
thin, devisible, diaphanous floors. In 
the midst of all the mansion, lofty 
and far-reaching, the bloom, the 
flower, the dream of generous living. 
Mountains of provender in the cellar 
and wine, rank on rank, in bins be- 
yond perspective. Here Palacios 
rests. 

Palacios. And I hope there are a 
thousand ways to be worse off*. Read 
no more. Are you content, gentle- 
men? 

Pacifico. Senor Palacios, we bow 
to you. Spoke you not of a banquet 
at your country-house ? 



48 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Palacios. To-morrow, if the sun 
keep his promise to return. 

Pacifico. You have made great 
preparation, I doubt not? 

Palacios. No ! A few thousand 
sheep and cattle sacrificed for the 
festa of my people. This in the 
open air. In my house a dozen or 
fifteen covers to be laid. The ser- 
vice of gold with jewelled cutlery. 
Simple, simple, simple ! 

Pacifico. But the repast, Senor. 
Most curious ? 

Palacios. Why, I had hoped for 
some little innovations. My people 
have orders to search the earth and 
sea and air for what is most unat- 
tainable. You will hardly recognize 
a mouthful in the meal. There will 
be some of that stuff the Israelites 
had in the desert. 

Pacifico. And the wines ? 

Palacios. To tell you the truth, 
Padre, it is impossible to get wines 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 49 

that cost enough. Would I could 
dissolve diamonds into dew ! But 
you are interested. Be my guest. 
And your friend here, the Coman- 
dante of cockatoos. I do not boast. 
He who eats proves. A dinner praises 
its giver. My poor house is at your 
disposition, gentlemen. 

Apjmiitio. Oh, Padre, 'tis a part of 
heaven you are asked to. 

Pacifico. JSTo, no, Senor Majordomo, 
there you break your shins against 
theology. Your paradise at Olympos 
is doubtless excellently fashioned 
after the first pattern, as Senor Pala- 
cios here is fashioned after the first 
man, all virtue and magnanimity; 
but even so, heaven is a long ways 
off 1 . I have a panegyric on heaven 
among my papers within. If you 
will wait, I'll fetch it out. "What! 
you have no time to spare for 
heaven. Well, well, Til come to 
your banquet. 

5 



50 BANQUET OF PAL AGIOS. 

Palacios. And you, Comandante ? 

Santos. If my health, permits. 
But to-morrow evening is the time 
for the return of my remittent fever. 
Let me see. One, two, three, four, 
five, six, seven, — yes, seven days 
to-morrow at five o'clock. But 
hold ! to-day, at four, my intermit- 
tent chill attacks me. My soul! I 
had nearly forgotten it. It comes, 
it comes ! Pacifico, see how I 
shiver ! I am going to pieces ! 
Now, I burn. ! Will you not count 
my pulse? Cyprian, Cyprian, why 
do you desert me in my extremity ? 
Gentlemen, will you see me die 
and not save me? Oh, will no- 
body look at my tongue ? Cyprian ! 

[Exit. 

Palacios. Do you think he will bite, 
Padre ? I am glad he is gone. You 
and I can deal together more com- 
placently. Do you know why I came 
here ? 



BANQUET OF PALAC10S. 51 

Pacijico. For some wise purpose I 
do not doubt. 

Palacios. Hang your beggarly wis- 
dom ! . I can hire men to be wise for 
me for fifty milreis a month. A rich 
man should have fancies, — original, 
daring, great. He should make peo- 
ple stare and wonder, and never do 
anything that men of sense would 
think of. Now, this idea of mine. 
You could not match it in a century. 

Pacijico. There is no use of crack- 
ing eggs after Columbus. What is 
your idea, Senor ? 

Palacios. Apparitio read it in a 
book. But that is nothing. I could, 
have thought of it myself. You 
must know that to-morrow night I 
give a banquet to my betrothed bride, 
Jasmin Herrara. There will sit at 
my table all the millions and mag- 
nificence of Para. Parterres of 
rubies and rivulets of diamonds, and 
purses back of these as inexhaustible 



52 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

as fountains. But something will be 
lacking to our revel. There, where 
we are all rich, riches will seem a 
matter of course; where all are 
merry, joy will be a thing of no 
moment. This were monstrous. So 
I hit upon a device after the old 
pyramid-builders. I will clap a skel- 
eton at our feast, so that the con- 
trast may heighten our pleasure. 
Think of us, alive, fat, w T ith fingers 
jingling our money, laughing at that 
pocketless and grinning guest. Is it 
not well thought, Padre ? 

Pacifico. 'Tis genius, Senor, pure 
genius. 

Palacios. And hence my errand 
here. I desire you to let me have a 
skeleton. 

Pacifico. But we have no skel- 
etons. 

Palacios. None in stock, none in 
stock. But you have malefactors, 
prisoners condemned to death. Have 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 53 

me one hanged immediately, and my 
surgeon will do the rest. 

Pacifico. ? Tis impossible, Senor; 
there are no prisoners of such a grade 
here. 

Palacios. Then hire me one to die. 
I will pay handsomely. Anything 
for my fancy. You would not care 
to undertake the business yourself. 

Pacifico. Heaven forbid ! 

Enter Padre Cyprian and Titan Pape. 

But, behold, Senor, here is your 
man. Why, you old apostle of pas- 
sivity, you apparition of a line, length 
without breadth, what do you want 
here? 

Cyprian. He comes to talk with 
his daughter, Erere. Stay you here, 
Senor, and I will send her to you. 

[Exit. 

Pacifico. Senor Palacios, what think 
you of this figure for the appetizer 
to your banquet? Would he not 



54 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

enact the part handsomely? He is 
poverty and death in one person. 

Palacios. Fellow, I engage you for 
my service. 

Titan Pape. What is there to do? 

Palacios. Nothing but to eat and 
drink. Follow me, fellow. Ap- 
paritio ! 

Apparitio. Make way, all ! Room 
for Palacios ! 

Pacifico. Adios, Senior. 

Palacios. Go before me, Apparitio. 
And you, beggar, stick to my heels. 
Now advance. Cry my name louder. 

Apparitio. Palacios! Pedro Pa- 
lacios ! Make way ! 

Enter Cyprian and En^Rii. 

JErere. Hold ! 

Palacios. What ! Insolent girl, do 
you detain me ? 

Erere. I care nothing at all for you, 
Senor. But my father, here, cannot 
go with you. 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 55 

Palacios, Not go with me ! Are 
you mad ? Why, he is mine by con- 
tract. Mine, not soul and body, but 
soul and shadow. 

ErerL Yet he cannot go with you 
unless you pay my price for him. 

Palacios, Beast, do you hear this ? 
Will you be bullied from your own 
business by your daughter ? 

Titan Pape. In an ordinary case, 
Senor, I am at your service. But 
in a family matter 

Palacios, Oh, I will punish you ! 

Titan Pape, He who desires noth- 
ing has neither hopes nor fears and 
can be little hurt. 

Palacios, Well, girl, you, what do 
you want ? Apparitio, my purse. 

Erere. No, Senor Palacios, it is not 
money. There is a gentleman im- 
prisoned here at your suit. Grant 
me his release, and my father and I 
are your servants while we live. 

Palacios. What gentleman is it ? 



56 BANQUET OF PALACIOS, 

Ercre. Senor Falcon, my master. 

Palacios. I know him not. 

Pacifico. He was indeed arrested in 
lieu of Luis Alves, the sculptor, whom 
Falcon rescued from the officers and 
so earned his own imprisonment. 

Palacios. What ! my little sculptor. 
I only wanted him imprisoned so I 
could lay my hand on him for some 
work I need for my banquet. Why, 
yes, allow the other to depart. At 
the nuptials of Palacios the prisons 
must fly open. 

Erere. I thank you, Senor. 

Cyprian. I will give Falcon his 
liberty. [Exit. 

Palacios. Now may we depart. 
Padre, live till I see you again. 
Remember my banquet. Eat noth- 
ing but salt until then. Now, Ap- 
paritio, spread your wings. Away ! 

[Exit Palacios, Apparitio, and 
Titan Pape. 

Pacifico. Fortune's ill-chosen mate 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 57 

farewell. Stupidity still charms a 
world that graces cannot w T in. 

Enter Falcon. 

But here comes the other bucket of 
the well. Good-evening, gentle sir. . 

Falcon. Your blessing, Padre. 

Ercre. My duty and my greeting 
to my master. 

Falcon. Gracious Erere, I am glad 
to see you. 

Pacifico. You look melancholy, 
Senor. Cheer up. Do not let this 
brief confinement weigh on your 
spirits. Call hither the Muse, and 
she will give you the liberty of the 
world. 

Falcon. Hard is the poet's trade. 
'Tis but a confirmed, a continual 
duel with the world. He must con- 
front this antagonist of adamant, 
give thrust for thrust, parry for 
parry, to the end. If he lower his 
point, 'tis death ; if he retreat, 'tis 



58 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

infamy. Pace by pace with fault- 
less sword-play must he push his 
adversary till he fail and fall him- 
self, for victory is impossible. I am 
tired, Padre, tired of the contest. 

Pacifico. Well, Senor, why should 
the world need any other diversion 
than sermons ? 

Falcon. Padre, I will shift my 
ground. I am grown serious. I 
will cease to struggle with folly and 
will fight sin. I will inaugurate a 
new religion. I will sweep the old 
superstitions away. 

Pacifico. Why, I would not advise 
you to be too serious, either. No- 
body is any the worse for a drinking- 
song or a love-sonnet. But you 
speak of a new religion. 

Falcon. Yes, Padre, I invented it 
in my cell last night. 'Tis the only 
hope of the world, — the religion of 
humanity. 

Pacifico. What is it to do ? 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 59 

Falcon. To reform the world. To 
make the rich good and the poor 
happy. 

Paciftco. You deny miracles, and 
do them. How do you proceed ? 

Falcon. I will preach humility to 
men. ITobod} 7 shall desire anything 
that another has, and every one shall 
love himself less than his neighbor. 
There shall be no creeds, and all 
men shall be of one opinion. "Wars 
shall be abolished, and I will lead a 
crusade to compel the world to ac- 
cept my religion. There are more 
details which I will expound to you 
at your leisure. I burn to begin to 
save the world. 

Paciftco. Alas, Senor, your religion 
is most exactly forestalled. It is 
eighteen centuries old, yet are there 
no doings such as you expect in a 
day. 

Falcon. It cannot be, Padre. I 
am scrupulously original. The idea 



60 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

came to me in the dark vigil of my 
cell last night. 

Pacifico. Why, know you not the 
faith whose unworthy priest I am? 
Humility is our basis, charity and 
love our buttresses. We desire men 
to know the light, and we persecute 
them if they turn from it. Have you 
anything new, then ? 

Falcon. Why have I not heard of 
these things before ? 

Pacifico. We disdain the ruin of 
the strife of man and provide refuges 
where lofty and humble souls may 
live in peace and contemplation. 

Falcon. Do you so ? Then I will 
forego my design. I will not change 
the religion of the world ! 

Pacifico. You will not ? 

Falcon. Nay, I swear it ! 

Pacifico. Noble youth ! 

Falcon. But in lieu, I demand that 
you admit me to your hospital of 
souls. I am wounded, and would 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 61 

leave the world. You need fear no 
hardships for me. Penance is my 
hope, and all I desire is flagellation. 
Dry bread is too good a diet for me, 
and a stone pillow, luxury. 

Pacifico. I will have you entered 
of our order if you truly wish it. 

Falcon. Sir, I was born a priest. 

Pacifico. 'Tis a brief step, Senor, 
but a great distance. Think ! You 
are alive, warm, vivid, musical, 
throbbing with hopes and exulta- 
tions, and so you open a door and 
die. 

Falcon. Padre, I will make my 
testament. Come here, Erere ; lend 
me your shoulder for my tablets. 
So ! Being in sound mind and 
about to renounce the world, I give 
and bequeath all my fortune thus : 
My wit to the rich, to be distributed 
at the next great mass, and the un- 
necessary surplus saved for another 
year. My courage to the poor, save 
6 



62 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

that I do not think they need so 
mean an aim. My poetry to woman, 
for as they are, for the most part, 
mere stuffed idols, 'twill be blood 
and blushes to their cheeks and 
Memnon music for their mouths. 
My love I leave to the hermit of 
the Andean woods, for him, I think, 
it cannot greatly hurt. And so 
there's a philosopher of failure for 
you. 

Frere. But do you leave me noth- 
ing, Senor? 

Falcon. I leave you, but I leave 
you nothing. 'Tis a gift to take 
my discouragement from you, Ererfe. 
Fortune has better friends in store 
for yon. 

Frere. Fortune against my will, 
against my prayers ! 

Falcon. Well, Padre, come ! To 
seclusion, come ! 

Cerita. ( Without.) Flores ! Brother 
Flores ! 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 63 

Falcon. 'Tis Cerita who calls. I 
must not answer. Farewell. 

Cerita. (Without.) Flores ! Flores! 
Lieutenant Santos ! Let me in ! I 
have a message for Senor Falcon. 

Falcon. Cerita, what do you want ? 

Cerita. A letter, Flores, a letter! 
Oh, such a letter I am sure ! I can- 
not give it to these walls. Let me 
in! 

Falcon. Pray you, Padre, 'tis a 
poor sister of mine. Give her ad- 
mittance. She cannot shake my 
purpose. Fate shall alter ere my 
adamant. But admit her, do ! 

Pacifico. Well, letters are — letters. 
It may be a summons to save a dying 
soul. {Exit. 

ErerL You would not stay for me, 
Senor, but a letter is more potent 
than flesh and blood. 

Falcon. 'Tis from one of my credi- 
tors. I must leave the world honestly. 
But why doesn't the girl come? 



64 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Where does she think I learned 
patience ? 

Enter Cerita and Pacifico. 

The letter, the letter ! 

Cerita. Here, reverend father that 
is to be. 'Tis from Jasmin. 

Falcon. Did you see her? Read 
she my verses ? Does she love me ? 
Speak ! 

Erere. Alas, poor me! Master, 
farewell. 'Tis my turn to go away. 

Falcon. No, child, stay with me. 
I need your help. Oh, you should 
see this lady ! Her smile makes the 
world good. Oh, her eyes, her hair! 

Frhre. I, too, have eyes and hair, 
Senor Falcon. 

Falcon. Sweet, so you have, and 
a good heart with them. But my 
letter, I forget my letter. Come 
aside, Erere, and read it with me. 
(Heads.) " Senor Poet: I have never 
seen you, nor known you if I have, 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 65 

but you must know me, for your 
verses are very near what I have 
thought of myself. They say poetry 
is false, but I am sure there must be 
some truth in yours. If you would 
have me think it all true, be in my 
garden to-night. I will be alone in 
the house, and if I like you, I may 
credit you more than I do now. — 
Jasmin." What wit, what frank- 
ness, what simplicity ! Say, Erere, 
is not all speech dull after such dis- 
course as that ? 

Erere. Faith, 'tis as you say, for 
me. 

Pacijico. Pardon me, Senor Falcon, 
but I heard the gossip of a name. 
Surely you do not intend to attempt 
Senorita Jasmin, the daughter of the 
rich Herrara ? 

Falcon. She whom I desire I will 
have if I have to wade through mil- 
lions up to my neck. 

Erere. And I will follow you though 

6* 



66 BANQUET OF PAL AGIOS. 

you should set me to woo my enemy 
Death for a bedfellow. ■ 

Falcon. To-night, to-night ! Why, 
'tis five o'clock. I must equip me 
for this adventure. But first, Erere, 
to get you some disguise. You can- 
not go about with me in that habit. 
Padre, can you provide some gar- 
ment? 

Pacifico. My day of disguises is 
done, but my heart welcomes such 
enterprises. Here, Erere, clothe 
yourself in my robe and hood. So ! 
Virtue itself would beg penances 
from such a priest. 

Falcon. Comrade, away. Love 
comes in with the stars. Padre, 
adios. Sister, get you home. 

[Exit Falcon, Cerita, and E&kRfe. 

Pacifico. It is wonderful what in- 
dulgence I have for the laxity of 
lovers. Well, liberty is in the world 
as well as law. I will not make 
myself a machine, — even a machine 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 67 

of morality. "lis a sin, I suppose. 
How Cyprian would reprove me ! 
A paragon of impossible integrity, 
a man of iron, a fiend of virtue! 
But here he comes. And how? 
Sighing ! Melancholy ! Sad ! Why, 
Cyprian, what is wrong with you? 

Cyprian. That which I dare not 
say, that which I dare not think, 
that which I dare not do, but that 
which I am and for which I must be 
damned eternally. 

Pacifico. Oh, dear brother, what 
mean you ? Why do you walk about 
so? 

Cyprian. Walk ! I would walk a 
thousand miles if it would weary 
down this pang. I have beaten my 
flesh against stone walls, but the ill 
inherits in every inch of me. I am 
doomed ! 

Pacifico. Well, I know nothing at 
all about men. This is all new to me. 

Cyprian. Erere! Oh, Erere! how 



68 BANQUET OF PAL AGIOS. 

could your benign beauty blast life 
so! 

Pacijico. Erere. Oh, I remember. 
'Tis never so. Surely that girl has 
not bewitched you. You in love ! 
Ice in love ! Contempt and hatred 
in love ! Oh ! oh ! oh ! 

Cyprian. Mock as you will. You 
do me good by mocking. 

Pacijico. Why, you were the worst 
railer against womankind living. 

Cyprian. Because I was the dearest 
lover of the excellence they should 
possess. An invisible apparition has 
hovered before me and lessoned me 
in perfection. 

Pacijico. You were an idiot for 
your pains. Enthusiasm and irony 
are the two keys of life. One or the 
other you must use. Either see 
halos everywhere or know that there 
are nothing but bald heads like our 
own. You dower woman with your 
dreams which they know nothing 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 69 

about, being all realities. They are 
good enough. Not so good as you 
would have them nor so bad as you 
believe them. But now out of your 
scepticism and imagination you have 
built yourself a fine vision. What 
do you think she is whom you love ? 

Cyprian. Truth! No more, no 
less. Her beauty I care not for, but 
I have seen her soul. No winged 
thing nobler walks in Paradise. I 
can look upon her face and say, I 
love not her but God. 

Pacifico. Well, then, would you 
stain her and yourself? 

Cyprian. Heaven forbid! The 
struggle will kill me, but I will hide 
it to the end. Pacifico, my scars 
shall show only to you ; but inwardly 
they bleed, they bleed ! 

Pacifico. Let us go in, dear Cyprian. 
You have herbs and I have words, 
and with such medicines we will try 
a cure. [Exeunt. 



SCENE III. 

Garden before Senor Herrara's house. 
Enter Falcon and Erer;&. 

Falcon. Can you tune this guitar, 
girl? 

Erere. No, Senor. 

Falcon. Your voice could tune the 
spheres. Stand where you are. So ! 
Now are the stars more eclipsed than 
when the moon does glide among 
them. These flowers forget their 
own perfume intoxicate with yours. 

Erere. My dear master ! 

Falcon. A vision ! nay, a goddess ! 
Poets have fabled you before, and 
priests made religions of you, but 
now you are actual, — divinity turned 
flesh and dreams come true. 

Erere. My heart will break with 

70 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 71 

Falcon. If you are a goddess, be 
kind or be abandoned of your 
adorer; if you are a saint, do mira- 
cles or cease to have my prayers. Oh, 
Jasmin, Jasmin, make the distance 
between us disappear, for now we 
are the whole earth and the firma- 
ment of heaven apart ! 

Erere. Jasmin ! do you speak of 
Jasmin ? 

Falcon. Why, yes, child ! What 
do you mean ? 

Erere. And those things you spoke 
to me you did not speak of me ? 

Falcon. Certainly not ! I was only 
practising my extempore orations to 
Senorita Jasmin. Jasmin, Jasmin, 
I take your name in vain, but you 
must forgive the profanation, for still 
do we swear by divinities ! What ! 
do you swoon, Erere ? 

Erere. Who,— I? No indeed. I 
felt a pain here, but 'tis nothing. I 
thought you were talking of me, and 



72 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

I was offended. But, Senor Falcon, 
how have you come into such a sud- 
den sickness of love for your new 
Jasmin, whom I think you have 
hardly seen ? 

Falcon. Frankly, my dear con- 
fessor, you must not think me too 
much in earnest. Love and poetry 
are both games of the imagination. 
We who practise either have a li- 
cense for lying. We grow wild with 
words, intoxicate with tropes, mad 
with metaphors, and when in full 
fury we will swear that things are 
or are not until the heavens reel. 
You yourself, if you were given to 
loving, would become as eloquent as 
I. Suppose, now, you loved me, how 
would you go about telling your case ? 

JErere. Alas, Senor, I should need 
no poetry for that ! 

Falcon. But say you did. 

Erere. Then I should say nothing, 
but serve you till I died, as I do now. 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 73 

Falcon. "Well, well, Erere, we are 
here in my love's garden. I sent you 
to spy out the country. What have 
you to report of the place ? Is there 
not a noble charm of careless prodi- 
gality around us ? Look at that 
fountain there, where half the Greek 
mythology is pretending to pour 
water out of stone vases. Or that 
tree clothed in vines like a hidalgo 
in a torn cloak. Why, this is the 
very seat of love and tranquil ease. 

Er&re. Senor, this place is as much 
out of elbows as my father's family. 
Here in front there is some grandeur 
of shabbiness, but behind the house 
all is pig-sties and stables. Sure 
your mistress does not live here ? 

Falcon. I hope I have made no 
mistake. Let me look at my index. 
Rosario, Flore, Santa, Felicite, Jas- 
min. Yes, ves ! Rua Nazareth and 
La Paz. Here we are safe enough. 
And really, Erere, the garden is 
7 



74 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

beautiful. I adore splendor, but I 
kneel to simplicity. 

Erere. Well, if we are come to 
woo your lady, let us woo lier. 
What is my part ? 

Falcon. Here, take this guitar. 
Fill in my pauses with what sounds 
you may. If you cannot make music, 
discords will do. Are you ready ? 

ErerL Ready,— not willing. But 
hold, Senor Falcon, your lady seems 
to anticipate you. Here she comes 
and more with her. Shall we wait 
to be discovered, or hide and hear? 

Falcon. Quick, into this group of 
fan-palms. This is not my hour. 

Enter Senor Herrara and Senora Her- 
rara, dragging in Jasmin. 

Senora Herrara. Oh, you piece ! 
Are all my sacrifices for nothing? 
Is it for this I have resigned all 
pleasures and held a seven years' 
famine of male society, so that I 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 75 

might bring you up in virgin igno- 
rance, a fit wife for the worst-minded 
rich man in Para ? And all the time 
you have been reading novels, filling 
your head with ideas of rapes and 
seductions and all unnamable atroci- 
ties. Oh, you, you, you infidel ! 

Jasmin, Why, mother, I am willing 
to be good myself, but I must have 
bad people to read about. 

Senora Hcrrara. Oh, well enough. 
When I was a girl we had no novels 
to teach us such things. We had to 
find out all about them for ourselves. 

Jasmin. Oh, mother ! 

Herrara. What do you say, wife ? 

Senora Herrara. Say ! say ! I say I 
am troubled with two trials, a hus- 
band and a daughter. What an un- 
lucky woman I am ! You are my 
fault, but she is my misfortune. 

Herrara. A fault! You were glad 
enough to embrace once. Why do 
you quarrel with me? Haven't I 



76 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

made you rich ? Haven't I made 
you distinguished? 

Senora Herrara. You make me dis- 
tinguished ! "Where did you get your 
distinction, pray ? 

Herrara. You know well enough 
that my grandfather was carriage- 
builder to the court. I am only 
three generations removed from 
being a gentleman. 

Senora Herrara. Hark ye, Herrara. 
Your nobility reminds me of an old 
fable of the support of the earth. 
The globe is upheld by a giant, who 
rests on the back of an elephant, 
who in turn stands on a tortoise. 
Nobody in this town wants to 
go back of the tortoise. I could 
boast myself, — the Fereiras are not 
unknown, — but 'tis to no purpose. 
What is the use of a distinction 
you have to share with a thou- 
sand others ? I have provided more 
nobly for our family. I have had the 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 77 

Marquis Luna cle Silva stand god- 
father to our daughter. The King 
of Spain is modern beside him. 
When we go abroad under the banner 
of his name we are sacred personages. 

Herrara. Faith, you treat your 
source of honor shabbily enough, 
then. I just left him cleaning out 
your cow-stable. 

Senora Herrara. Well, the man is 
simple. He doesn't know his own 
value. There's no law against my 
getting all I can out of him. 'Tis 
such economy has made us rich, 
which you claim for your own effort. 

Herrara. What ! will you deny 
that, too ? 

Senora Herrara. Yes, and again. 
You may have made some money, 
but 'tis I have made you. I have 
taught you how not to spend, and 
therefore are we rich. 

Herrara. Perhaps, wife, perhaps ; 
but I have always had the instinct of 
7* 



78 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

getting other people's money, and 
therefore are we rich. 

Jasmin. Indeed, if, therefore, you 
are both rich, why don't you give me 
some of your money ? Never was a 
girl so used as I. I have to wear 
my nightgown indifferently abed 
and abroad. If I grow, 'tis nature's 
thanks, not yours, for you don't give 
me enough to eat to keep my little 
finger alive. I ask you for com- 
panions, and you give me the Mar- 
quis Luna de Silva, who was a 
mummy in the days of the first 
Pharaoh. I desire to go out into 
the air, and I am told I am too tender 
yet for the open climate. You keep 
me stalled in the house but to famish, 
not to fatten me. Do you want to 
start a new order of nuns, that you 
mortify my flesh for a symbol ? Faith 
o' mine, if you don't let me out I will 
let somebody in who won't make a 
nun of me. 



BANQUET OF PALAC10S. 79 

Herrara. It is all over, daughter. 
Your education is completed and you 
are provided for. 

Senora Herrara. Child, child, when 
you have daughters you will know 
what I have done for you. How we 
mothers love our children to work 
for them so ! 

Jasmin. What do you mean? 
Why do you look at me so gravely ? 
What is it ? 

Herrara. Well, child, it is mar- 
riage. 

Jasmin. Oh, joy ! Is it so, mother ? 

Senora Herrara. Yes, child, I have 
secured your eternal happiness. 

Jasmin. But when is it to be ? 

Herrara. The betrothal banquet is 
to-morrow night, and the wedding as 
soon after as may be. 

Jasmin. But oh, mother, I have 
no clothes. 

Senora Herrara. Simplicity be- 
comes you, my child. 



80 BANQUET OF PAL AGIOS. 

Jasmin. I won't be married like a 
beggar, I warn you. But who is my 
husband, father ? Who is the man ? 

Herrara. Shall we tell her, wife ? 

Senora Herrara. "We ought to go 
down on our knees to pronounce his 
name. It is Senor Palacios, Jasmin, 
the richest man in Para, the richest 
man in the world. 

Jasmin. Is he young ? Is he hand- 
some ? 

Senora Herrara. Young! hand- 
some ! What do you mean, Jasmin ? 
The gentleman is rich. 

Jasmin. And will I be rich, too? 
Then I'll eat dulces all day long. 
Can I have everything I want ? Then 
I'll change my shift twice a week 
and not mend my old stockings. 

Senora Herrara. Those things are 
nothing, child. You will have 
dresses, jewels, servants, equipages. 
You shall sit at home in as much 
state as a star and go abroad with 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS, 81 

as much circumstance as a comet. 
People will calculate nativities by 
you, and you will be a portent of 
prosperity or disaster. 

Jasmin. All this for me ! Oh, I 
will go mad for joy ! Dance, father ! 
kiss me, mother ! Will my husband 
give me all this ? Yes, and I'll have 
more, too. I'll have a new dowry 
every night before I go to bed. One 
night I will ask for a regiment of 
monkeys, and another for a tiara of 
diamonds. Oh, mother, a tiara of 
diamonds, a tiara of diamonds ! 

Senora Herrara. Your husband is 
a kind old gentleman, and will give 
you all you desire. 

Jasmin. Old ! How old is he ? 

Senora Herrara. About an age with 
your father. 

Jasmin. Why, then, maybe he will 
die. Oh, father, to rise from the 
cold grave of matrimony into the 
rosy resurrection of widowhood ! 



82 BANQUET OF PAL AGIOS. 

To be free and to have wings! To 
be like the old Persian satraps and 
have Sardis for oil and Cyprus for 
wine and the whole unravished Cyc- 
lades for my bees to wing over ! To 
be at ease and know the world creaks 
with burdens for me ! To shut out 
the day and say to night, I banish 
you ! To float over the necks of 
men like a goddess on a cloud ! To 
be indifferent amid desire, languid 
where a thousand burn ! And if one 
is not indifferent — why, widows do 
not need to blush. Oh, father, 'tis 
a heaven to marry a rich man from 
pure grace and have him die out of 
gratitude ! 

Herrara. When it comes to that, 
child, we will help you save your 
money. 

Jasmin. Save ! I'll have no more 
saving. I'll hire men to invent ways 
of spending mone}'. I'll live a thou- 
sand lives in one. 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 83 

Sehora Herrara. Well, daughter, 
you must be married before you can 
be a widow, and that is what we are 
about to-night. Where's your god- 
father, the Marquis Luna de Silva? 
Call him here. 

Jasmin. Godfather, godfather, one 
of your seventeen castles in Spain is 
on fire, and your twentieth ancestor 
has just tumbled from his horse in a 
tournament! Come hither out of 
your dream. 

Enter Marquis Luna de Silva. 

Silva, Do you call me, child ? 

Jasmin. Yes, godfather, my mother 
attends you. 

Sehora Herrara. Alas, Marquis, 
dreaming in the open air under the 
stars ! 'Tis no way to make your 
fortune. 

Silva. Madam, my estate of hope 
is in the past, and there I spend most 
of the time I dare take from your 



84 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

affairs. But I trust I have not kept 
you waiting ? 

Herrara. Not a whit. We wouldn't 
wait for you. 

Senora Herrara. Be quiet, Herrara. 
No, Marquis. I merely sent to ac- 
quaint you with our departure for 
this evening. But have the pigs had 
their supper ? 

Silva. Yes, madam. 

Senora Herrara. And you ? 

Silva. No, madam. 

Senora Herrara. How unfortu- 
nate ! The larder is locked, and 
Senor Herrara and myself are 
going out to meet my brother 
on affairs of Jasmin's marriage. 
Could you manage until to-morrow? 
You shall make it up at breakfast. 
Or there is a banquet at Senor 
Palacios' house to-morrow night. 
You will need to be hungry for 
that. 

Silva. Alas, madam, I am hungry 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 85 

now ; but if you appeal to me as a 
gentleman 

Herrara. Gentleman ! What is a 
gentleman ? 

Silva. A gentleman, Senor, is one 
who thinks all men his equals, and 
every woman his superior. 

Seiiora Herrara. Do you hear that, 
Herrara ? There's one in this house 
who knows my value. Thank you, 
Marquis, thank you. 

Silva. I am proud to please you, 
madam. 

Herrara. Pshaw ! What is the use 
of such courtesies between people 
who know each other? I can be 
polite, too, when it pays. 

Senora Herrara. Well, Marquis, we 
are going out, and must leave Jas- 
min in your charge. I will lock her up 
in the house and give you the keys. 

Jasmin. Must I stay in the house 
by myself? Cannot my godfather 
be with me ? 



86 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Senora Herrara. What ! stay in the 
house alone with a man ! 

Silva. No, Jasmin, that would 
never do. 

Senora Herrara. No, indeed ! Mar- 
quis, you must walk around the house 
and guard Jasmin from intruders 
until we return. 

Silva. But, Senora, the night is 
like to be cold, and I have no cloak. 

Senora Herrara. One can always 
warm one's self by walking. Walk as 
much as you please, dear Marquis. 
But do not sit down, I beg you. I 
would not have you take cold for the 
world. Come, Jasmin, into your 
sanctuary. It is no use making faces. 
We have had too much pains raising 
you to let you be spoiled at the last 
moment. So, you are safe. Are 
you ready, Herrara? Adios, Mar- 
quis, adios. 

[Jasmin enters the house and exit 
Senoii and Senora Herrara. 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 87 

SUva. Alas, an empty stomach has 
no gratitude. My soul recognizes 
its debt to this lady, but my stomach 
rebels. It keeps no record of the 
dinners of the past, it refuses to live 
on anniversaries. Why, this lady 
has rescued me from poverty, from 
dependence. Save for such slight 
services as one so incapable as I can 
render, I am free to do or dream as 
I desire. And yet I repine. Alas, 
'tis not I, but this unfortunate appe- 
tite of mine. Have a care, Silva, or 
thy ignoble digestion will compro- 
mise thy nobility. Can I not be 
brave, modest, grateful, without the 
consent of my belly? Oh, I will 
set about my vigil. Hunger comes 
from emptiness, and emptiness is 
nothing; therefore hunger is noth- 
ing. [Exit. 

Falcon. (Coming forward.) Well, 
I am amazed. 

Erere. And I too, mightily. 



88 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Falcon. My admiration grew with 
every word she spoke. 

ErerL What do you say ? 

Falcon. Such fire, such freshness ! 
Moonlight and morning met to- 
gether ! 

Erere. Is it possible ? 

Falcon. When we are married, 
Erere, I will have you about her 
person. You may from close ac- 
quaintance catch from her some of 
those graces that enrich her. 

Erere. Oh, Seiior, I thank you. 

Falcon. Let me see if you have 
not profited already. Clasp your 
hands over your head and dance as 
she did when thinking of Palacios' 
death. Alas, you have not the 
gayety, the abandon. 

Erere. I am not made for feign- 
ing, Senor. I am awkwardly true. 

Falcon. No matter, no matter. But 
here comes our tethered Marquis. 
Into ambush again. 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 89 
Enter MARQUIS LuNA DE SlLVA, reading. 

S'tlva. "Pyrrha, what, boy, all balm 

on roses now 
Thee placid takes. Thy simply 
braided brow 
Seems to him as these seas, 
Safe for some centuries." 

Horace, thou break'st my heart. 
Let me try again ; 

" How shall he shrink when storms 

and stars athwart 

Threaten him ruin and wrecks fill 

his heart ! 

And he does know thee strange 

Whom gold or planets change." 

Falcon. {Aside.) Here's a translator 
for you : turns a language of which he 
is ignorant into a language which he 
doesn't know. I must speak to him. 

Erere. Oh, Senor, are you here to 
make love, or to busy yourself with 
these idiocies ? 

8* 



90 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Falcon. Love ! Love is well enough, 
but this is an affair of verses. Senor ! 
Senor ! 

&ilva. Who speaks ? 

Falcon. Passing your gate, Senor, 
I caught — the ear of night being most 
open to such music — some lines, I 
thought, of Horace, admirably refit- 
ted to our tongue. 

Silva. You flatter me, Senor. I 
am a mere bungler at this busi- 
ness. 

Falcon. 'No indeed. I intrude on 
you, being also a worshipper of re- 
nown. Your translation is beyond 
doubt perfect, yet, if you will par- 
don me, there are a few phrases in 
the first, third, and fourth lines of the 
first stanza open to question. And 
the other stanza too, you could change 
that throughout. 

Silva. I cannot see how. Your 
pardon, but I am walking in this 
garden for a purpose. If you will 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 91 

keep step with me we may discuss 
this matter. 

[Exit Silva and Falcon. 

JErcre. Oh, heart of mine, what do 
I here ? My madcap master leaves 
me to keep tryst for him. Well, 
the moon and I are punctual, but 
there's no third person. Heigh-ho ! 
Is that a sigh or a summons ? In- 
deed, this drowsy garden and the 
trance-shedding moon almost make 
me in love myself. There's nothing 
for me to do but to sit down on this 
bank and fancy some one wooing 
me. Pray you, sit farther off, Senor. 
No, I am not cold. This tree holds 
me well enough. Alas, 'tis no use. 
We girls cannot fill our arms with 
phantoms as poets do. What noise 
is that ? Hallo ! Jasmin at her 
window. I am taken, or will my 
disguise protect me ? 

Jasmin. Falcon, Senor Falcon ! 

ErerL Now, love or loyalty, which 



92 BANQUET OF PALACTOS. 

of you is deepest in my heart ? Shall 
I speak to her in my master's name? 
Woo her, win her for him and have 
his gratitude ? 

Jasmin. Do you not answer ? Oh, 
I fear some stranger steals on my 
secrecy ! I'll in again. 

ErerL Stay, lady, stay ! 

Jasmin. Are you Senor Falcon? 
Answer, or I am gone. 

Erere. Falcon ! I am all Falcon. 
Falcon from head to foot, from heart 
to skin. 

Jasmin. Well, then, why don't you 
praise me ? I sent for you because 
you are the first soul who ever said a 
civil word to me in all my life, and 
now you turn stupid like the rest. 
Quick, tell me I am an angel, or I 
will throw something at you. 

Erere. {Aside.) Heaven help me! 
I've forgotten all my master's fine 
speeches and there's no inspiration 
in the moon. I have a mind to run 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 93 

away. No, I won't. She is only a 
woman, and I will bully her into 
bliss. Jasmin, (aloud) sweet Jasmin, 
I do not come here to praise you, but 
to possess you. I saw you, loved you 
in the twinkling of an eye, and here 
I am to have you. I am not worthy 
of you — but I love you. I am hor- 
ribly wicked — but I love you. If I 
must come to confessions 'twere 
death to me — but I love you. I am 
lost in darkness and tumult, but the 
star that governs your soul breaks 
through my gloom to guide me — and 
I love you. We are not equals, or 
are equal opposites, yet queens must 
be wooed by foreign powers, foes 
have lief to kiss — and so I love you. 
'Tis my only virtue that dares this 
errand to you. I crave no alms, no 
quarter, no reprieve. No fate can 
make me flinch. Courage I have to 
die, courage to live, courage to do 
without you, courage to conquer 



94 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

you. Stoop to me, then, fair star. 
You shall show all the brighter 
coupled with my shadow. And you 
may find the soul that loves and does 
not lie worthy even of your Para- 
dise. 

Jasmin. Oh, this is pure ! This is 
perfect ! It wasn't for nothing that I 
dreamed three nights running of the 
bull in my father's pasture-field. 
This is better than the Marquis Mi- 
randa in " Damnation before Death," 
or the lover of Ardriel in " Kisses 
of Fire." Oh, how could such, luck 
happen to me ! Oh, sir ! oh, dear 
sir ! oh, sweet sir ! believe me, I am 
your true slave. Don't mind my 
rudeness a moment ago. I did not 
know who you were. I will do any- 
thing at all you ask me. I will 
marry you. I will run away with 
you. I will jump right down out of 
this window to you. Oh, how won- 
derful this is ! 



BANQUET OF PAL AGIOS. 95 

Erere. Heaven forbid. No, no, 
Senorita, not to-night. I am indeed 
under a vow not to run away with 
any woman to-night. 'Tis the birth- 
day of my saint, and I have religious 
scruples. But you love me, Jasmin ? 
You love Falcon ? 

Jasmin. Why, I dote on you, 
Senor. Is all you say of yourself 
true ? 

Erere. How ? 

Jasmin. Are you so bad ? Do you 
know all wickedness ? 

Erere. Alas, my past is darkness 
and the abyss. 

Jasmin. Then I must love you. 
Oh, hark! footsteps approach. 
Some men are coming. Hide your- 
self. 

Erere. Shall I stay and die for you ? 

Jasmin. No, do not die. Hide in 
the thicket until they are gone. I 
will close my casement. 

[Exit Jasmin and Erere. 



96 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Enter Palacios and Apparitio. 

Palacios. Apparitio! 

Apparitio. Senor! 

Palacios. Have you set the twenty 
French horns in the east shrubbery ? 

Apparitio. Yes, Senor. 

Palacios. And hidden the fourteen 
trombones by the south wall? 

Apparitio. They are placed, Senor. 

Palacios. And strown the kettle- 
drums on the lawn beyond ? 

Apparitio. ? Tis done to your wish, 
Senor. 

Palacios. And have you concerted 
with them all to burst forth at a sign ? 

Apparitio. I can wake or still them 
with a wink. 

Palacios. 'Tis well. Do you not 
wonder why I so besiege this house ? 

Apparitio. Why, no ! I think that 
when the music is at its desperate 
worst you will come forward and stop 
it, and so earn your lady's gratitude. 

Palacios. Fool ! I would show her 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 97 

how a king can woo. There are 
some fellows who would rely on their 
own merits, — a voice they have, or a 
leg, or some inward beauty ; but none 
of that for me. I can afford some 
expense in my courtship, and if I 
cannot please my love with an army 
of musicians or send her presents 
enough to plead my cause, I'll leave 
mating to the paroquets and green 
love-birds. 

Apparitio. Shall I signal the music 
to begin ? But oh, Senor, you should 
open this diversion with some per- 
sonal devotion of your own. Here 
is a guitar. 

Palacios. "Will it not be against 
my dignity? Truly, love turns us 
topsy-turvy. There is not a more 
peremptory man in Para than I 
am, but when I am in love I am a 
tame cat. Give me the guitar. I 
never studied these strings. Let me 
see. (Sings.) 

9 



98 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

There soars and sails a vulture, ' 
And to his mates he calls. 

Come hither, hither, hither, 
To merry funerals. 

Apparitio. Oh, Senor, that is not 
a fit song for a serenade. 

Palacios. It shall be if I like. Do 
you think I will borrow the uses of 
beggarly minstrels. If I choose I 
will make it a custom for wives to 
be wooed with dirges, wedded with 
requiems, and* buried to the tune of 
dance music. 

Apparitio. You are always right, 
Senor. 

Palacios. I will sing no more. I 
am better at orations. Give me 
room, Apparitio. I must have room 
for my gestures. Give me the whole 
garden. 

Apparitio. But will you not have 
the orchestra play first ? 

Palacios. No! we'll have my speech 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 99 

first and the music afterwards. What 
does she want with music when she 
can listen to me ? 

Apparitio. Nothing, — certainly. 

Palacios. Jasmin, Senorita Jasmin ! 
Love-bird at your window, there ! 
Look forth ! Do not miss this action 
I present. Consider me ! Note me 
well. If the moon is not illumina- 
tion enough, Apparitio shall get you 
a lantern. Do you see anything in 
me to object to? Is Pedro Palacios 
the husband for you ? The best of 
me you cannot see. You do not 
know what's within. 'Tis incredible 
to myself sometimes. You will not 
believe it, but I have no more educa- 
tion than a wild parrot, yet look w T hat 
I have done. I was born in a for- 
gotten way, yet look where I am. I 
have lacked everything, and I have 
all. Myself has made myself. 

JErcre. (Aside.) Poor man ! No- 
body at all to blame for you. Well, 



100 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

you don't know how to woo a girl. 
We are safe for you. 

Palacios. Listen , my pigeon ! I 
am a dozen dignities above the Pres- 
ident of this Province, yet 'tis for 
you I am great. I have an empire 
for an estate, but 'tis for you I am 
rich. You should see the chamber I 
have furnished for you in my house 
at Olympos. Bedsteads of ebony, 
chairs of gold, mirrors of silver, 
chandeliers of diamonds, curtains of 
crimson, carpets of purple, — 'tis a 
rainbow builded in a box, and all for 
you! 

Erfre. (Aside.) This is getting seri- 
ous. She can never resist that room. 
I hear the creaking of a casement. 

Palacios. As for jewels, my dove, 
you shall have seven sets of them, 
complete suits of armor. Besides 
which I have four wash-tubs full of 
unset gems, diamonds, rubies, pearls, 
in which you may bathe your feet. 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 101 

Erere. {Aside.) Oh, I must inter- 
fere. Female flesh and blood can 
never withstand such incantation as 
that. [Coming forward.) Hallo! 
Who are you who have followed me 
to this garden ? Are you the boat- 
men from the quay ? Oh, ay, mates, 
wait for me outside. No words, go ! 
Now for my serenade. (Sings.) 

All the air is dappled snow, 
And the moon's a whiter birth. 

Moonlight and white roses now 
Are the hollows of the earth. 

Sweet, awake, appear, and show 
These shadows what the light is 
worth. 

Palacios. Impudent dog, who are 
you? 

Erere. I ? Who are you, too ? 
Have I made a mistake and given 
my confidence to strangers ? But you 
are gentlemen. You will not betray 
me. 

9* 



102 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Palacios. Villain, I will have you 
whipped. 

Erere. What do you say ? Twenty 
devils ! I don't fear the two of you. 
Begone ! 

Palacios. I say, Apparitio, had you 
not better call one or two of my at- 
tendants here? This man looks 
dangerous. 

Apparitio. Let me appease him. 
Senor, we only desire to know what 
you do here at this hour ? 

Erere. What do you do here your- 
selves ? Answer me that. 

Apparitio. Only a harmless sere- 
nade to a sweet lady. 

Erere. What ! do you serenade my 
love ? 

Palacios. You lie ! 'tis my betrothed. 

Erere. Impossible ! she has no 
thoughts of marriage. 

Apparitio. Let me call the lady 
up and she shall decide this ques- 
tion. 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 103 

Palacios. Yes, let's put it to 
vote. This is an auspicious bridal 
eve. But I'll never doubt. What! 
that black beggar to compare with 
me ! 

Apparitio. Senorita Jasmin ! 

Jasmin. (At window.) What uproar 
disturbs the honorable quiet of this 
house ? Senores, who are you, and 
what your purpose ? 

Palacios. I, Jasmin, am your be- 
trothed husband. 

Jasmin. Senor, I bow to you. 

Erere. Do you not know me, lady ? 

Jasmin. I never saw you before- 
Come hither ! Let me look at you 
more closely that I may know how 
to avoid you. Closer yet. (Aside.) 
Madcap, keep quiet till they are 
gone. (Aloud.) Away, Senor ! I 
will know you again. 

Palacios. Well, Senor, I hope you 
are satisfied. 

Erere. 'Tis the wrong garden. 



104 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

This comes of building gates alike. 
Adios. . [Exit. 

Jasmin. Senor Palacios, it does 
not become the modesty of my 
youth to seem to know you. My 
father and mother are not at home. 
If you love me I must be discreet 
for your sake, and tell you nothing 
that I might had I the warrant of 
their presence. Pray you, withdraw, 
and what the future has in store for 
me, believe me, I will choose with a 
grateful heart. 

Palacios. Sweet child, I obey. Oh, 

Palacios, what a harvest of modesty 

and gentleness is ripening in this 

house for you ! Come, Apparitio. 

[Exit Palacios and Apparitio. 

Re-enter En^ni*:. 

Erere. One word, dear saint. 

Jasmin. I am too sleepy for any- 
thing but kisses. Can you reach up 
to me ? See, I will kneel down and 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 105 

say my prayers on your lips. How 
soft they are ! Oh, why do you fall 
back so soon ? 

Erere. More arrivals. Close your 
casement. 

Jasmin. This can be nobody but 
the Emperor himself. Oh, Jasmin, 
Jasmin ! what a miracle you must 
be ! [Exit. 

Enter Marquis Luna de Silva and 
Falcon. 

Silva. What noise is this? Jas- 
min! Jasmin! This door is safe, I 
will try the others. [Exit. 

Falcon. Erere, is that you, my mid- 
night Mercury ? 

Erere. You must take her kisses 
from my mouth, you must take her 
kisses from my mouth. I have them 
all caged there like a swarm of 
swallows in a chimney. 

Falcon. What ! have you spoken 
with Jasmin ? 



106 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

ErerL Ay, and sighed with her, 
and in your name. 

Falcon. It is never true. Is she in 
love with me? 

ErerL Oh, most prodigiously ! 

Falcon. Well, 'tis a gift I have. 

Erere. But 'tis no good. Your 
prize is swept from you by a great 
three-decker of a man, a very squad- 
ron of a wooer. 

Falcon. What do you say ? 

Erere. Paiacios is to have her. 
What can you do against Paia- 
cios? 

Falcon. Oh, monstrous ! Oh, im- 
possible ! The laws of nature are 
against it. He my rival ! His 
years, his infirmities, his villanies 
are rather my allies and plead 
against him. But we will save 
her, Erere. You will not let this 
happen ? 

Erere. Oh, I don't want to marry 
her, Senor Falcon. 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 107 

Falcon. Let us go home and con- 
sider some plan to save her. She 
must be saved. 

JErere. Anything you please. 
Anything you command. Oh, why 
was I born into this vexatious world ? 

[Exeunt. 



SCENE IV. 

A room in PALACIOS , house. Palacios 
sleeping in a chair. 

Palacios. ( Waking.) Oh, horrible ! 

Enter Apparitio. 

Apparitio. Did you call, Senor ? 

Palacios. Help, help ! Is that yon, 
Apparitio ? Here, let me hold you. 
Ah, you are solid, you are real. 
Can you feel me ? 

Apparitio. Very plainly, Senor. 

Palacios. Then 'twas nothing. 
'Twas a bad dream. But are you 
sure I am alive ? 

Apparitio. I am certain, Senor. 
You are half choking me. 

Palacios. Oh, it is too good ! But 
can you feel these blows? 

Apparitio. Senor, Senor! You 
will kill me ! 
108 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 109 

Palacios. Dog ! have you no grati- 
tude that I am back with you ? Oh, 
I have dreamed, I have dreamed ! 

Apparitio. In what manner, Senor ? 

Palacios. Apparitio, I dreamed I 
was a spider and spread my web 
and grew greater every moment. I 
wound my lines around the great 
earth and sucked the substance of 
it until it was only a dried shell. 
Then I drew a long thread out of 
my body and let it float in space, 
waving here and there until it touched 
the sun, when I darted over it and 
encompassed that orb with my filmy 
weaving. Then I advanced my lines 
in every direction and took in the 
stars, till my web was over the face 
of heaven and the constellations 
hung in it like dead flies. I danced 
up and down in exultation on my 
glittering bridges. I devoured the 
stars and I grew ; I blotted the suns 
from heaven and was happy. One 
10 



110 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

distant orb seemed left. I threw a 
thread across. It attached, and cau- 
tiously I crept over. Suddenly my 
bridge broke. I fell, fell, Apparitio, 
beyond death. I struggled, I sobbed, 
I sank, I died. I was nothing in 
an abyss of nothingness. Then I 
awoke. Oh, come here, Apparitio, 
and let me try my identity ! 

Apparitio. No, no, Senor ! I give 
you my word of honor. There is 
no possibility of my being mistaken. 
I am black and blue with your resur- 
rection. 

Palacios. Apparitio, this dream is 
a warning to me. Why, even I can 
die. I must have more care for my 
health. Hire me a few doctors to- 
morrow. And, Apparitio, make a 
note that I dream no more. 

Apparitio. Yes, Senor. 

Palacios. This is an unjust world, 
Apparitio. Here I am richer than 
a king, mightier than a conqueror, 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. Ill 

but to what purpose. My friends 
envy me and my enemies have my 
memory in charge. Why, there are 
your beggarly soldiers who go up 
and down the earth cutting throats, 
and they are worshipped like divini- 
ties. There are your poets who starve 
away into as thin a substance as their 
songs, and their ghosts dictate to the 
world. But nobody builds me bon- 
fires unless I pay for them. Nobody 
praises me unless by subscription. 
When I raised the price of sugar 
and took two million milreis out of 
the market, nobody seemed to re- 
joice. When I starved out the people 
of Santarem and bought in their pos- 
sessions for a song, nobody was any 
the happier for it. I tell you, Ap- 
paritio, there has grown an ignoble 
meanness in the world of late that 
refuses honor to great qualities, and 
I am the sufferer by it. 

ApparUio. Ah, Seiior, you may 



112 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

soon scorn the world and its shifting 
tides of opinion anchored in Jas- 
min's arms. 

Palacios. Ha, old boy ! That's the 
note ; that's the tune of my heart. 
Isn't she a creature ? A spirit like 
champagne, flesh you could feast 
upon ! But I say, Apparitio, have 
you made the preparations I desired 
for her reception ? 

Apparitio. All is arranged. 

Palacios. Her first arrival on the 
island to be met imperial-wise ! One 
hundred cannon to be discharged 
and twenty bands of music to volley 
forth in an instant ! 

Apparitio. 'Tis so ordered. 

Palacios. Then the path to the 
house, — overhead a continuous bower 
of orange blooms, underneath a bed 
of roses ! 

Apparitio. Will you behold it, 
Senor ? 

Palacios. I don't lay much stress 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 113 

on such natural adornments, but at 
the door some ceremony of saluta- 
tion, some simple design of welcome. 
You have placed the statue of the 
river god at the entrance with his 
cornucopia so arranged that as Jas- 
min's foot touches the threshold 
there will gush forth a flood of 
jewels and gold pieces ? At the 
same signal mechanical butterflies 
with wings made of thousand mil- 
reis notes to be released and flutter 
forth to entice pursuit ? 

Apparitio. The thing is done. 

Palacios. Well, then, leave me to 
compose myself to some fit speech 
of reception. 

Apparitio. Senor, there is one wait- 
ing without since daybreak. He is 
hungry-looking, and I would have 
sent him away but he claims to have 
come by appointment. 

Palacios. What's his name ? 

Apparitio. Luis Alves. 
10* 



114 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Palacios. Oh, my little sculptor! 
Admit him. {Exit Apparitio. 

I would to heaven I had more hair 
on my head, if only for twenty-four 
hours ! But 'tis no matter. Jasmin 
loves my mind, and my person is 
good enough, after all. I wonder 
had I better wear my court suit or 
appear before her first as a simple 
gentleman and so gradually accustom 
her to my state? 'Tis time I was 
about it, or they will catch me in 
this dressing-gown and only four 
diamonds on each hand. Well, I'll 
go. 

Enter Luis Alves. 

Alves. Senor, I attend you. 

Palacios. Are you a sculptor ? 

Alves. I am. 

Palacios. Ah ! I wanted an archi- 
tect. 

Alves. Senor, you have spoken the 
word. Only give me your purse and 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 115 

I will build you another world ! I 
have invented seven new orders of 
architecture. I will build you houses 
that shall seem palaces and palaces 
that shall be paradises. Oh, Seiior, 
be my patron, and I will make you 
famous ! 

Palacios. Make me famous ! This 
creature is amusing. What do you 
take me for ? When I want art I 
know where to buy it. I don't 
meddle with home talents when the 
markets of Paris are open to me. 
All I desire of you is a little scheme 
of decoration for my banquet-table 
to-night. I will send you to my 
cook, and you will confer with her 
about the confections. 

Alves. Alas, Senor, I am your 
debtor, and must e'en degrade my 
art to your pleasure. What is your 
idea as to the piece ? 

Palacios. This: a sort of trium- 
phal procession of men on chariots, 



116 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

on elephants, horseback, and afoot, 
to wind in and out of the covers on 
the table. The thing to be, as it 
were, a celebration of my greatness. 

Alves. Whose figure, Senor, do 
you want in the chariots ? 

Palacios. Mine. 

Alves. Whose on the elephants ? 

Palacios. Mine. 

Alves. Whose on horseback? 
Whose on foot ? 

Palacios. Mine, always mine. 'Tis 
my triumph, and I'll have no in- 
truders. 

Alves. Well, Senor, will it please 
you to sit to me in different atti- 
tudes ? 

Palacios. Sit to you ? Not at all. 
Where's your inspiration? Go 
dream me and draw me as you can. 
Quick ! I hear guests coming. This 
way. {Exit Alves. 

Heavens ! they are here an hour 
ahead of preparation ! My twenty 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 117 

footmen are not ready to receive 
them, and there's nothing in this 
dressing-gown to strike awe into a 
woman's heart. Oh, why did I not 
wear a wig ? 

Enter Se^or, Senora, and Senorita 
Herrara and Marquis Luna de 
Silva. Apparitio. 

Apparitio. Senor and Senora Her- 
rara; Senorita Jasmin; the Mar- 
quis Luna de Silva. 

Senora Herrara. Idiot ! I told you 
to call the Marquis first. Let us go 
back and do it over again. 

Herrara. What is the matter with 
you, wife ? Here is Senor Palacios 
waiting to greet us. 

Senora Herrara. My dear son-in- 
law, I am glad to see you. What a 
pretty little reception you gave us ! 
The Marquis was much pleased with 
it. Let me present you to him? 
Marquis, this is the new member of 



118 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

our family. I am sure you will be 
satisfied with him. 

Palacios. {Aside.) There's two han- 
dles to that jug. {Aloud.) How do 
you do ? 

Silva. Madam, your .wishes are a 
law to my liking. Senor, I am proud 
to be your servant. 

Herrara. There, thank heaven, the 
politeness is done and we can be at 
ease. Shall we sit, Palacios, my boy ? 

Palacios. Yes, yes. I was think- 
ing of something else. Damn this 
dressing-gown ! Chairs, Apparitio. 

Senora Herrara. A lover's absent- 
mindedness is excusable. Well, we 
are weary and the chairs look very 
Hold for your lives, all of you ! 

Herrara. Why, whatever do you 
mean ? Is there any danger in the 
chairs ? 

Seilora Herrara. The Marquis is 
standing. Oh, be seated, Marquis. 
Sit first. 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 119 

Palacios. Why should he sit down 
before us? 

Senora Herrara. His rank, Pa- 
lacios. His sacred rank. Do, Mar- 
quis, I beg of you, sit down. 

Silva. But, madam, it is impossible. 
How can I sit and ladies standing ? 

Senora Herrara. Ah, Marquis, you 
are too generous to so waive your 
rights. Since you desire it I will 
sit first. Jasmin, go over and place 
yourself by your godfather's knee. 
Let his words be religion to you. 

Palacios. Well, madam, since this 
important affair is settled I presume 
we may proceed to minor matters. 
We are met, first to consider my 
settlement to Jasmin, and then to 
sign the betrothal papers. 

Herrara. Ha! do you hear that, 
wife? The settlement, the settle- 
ment! 

Senora Herrara. Do you speak of 
settlements? In a moment! Why, 



120 BANQUET OF PAL AGIOS. 

Marquis, you have not put on your 
hat! 

Palacios. Put on his hat ! 

Senora Herrara. Yes, the dear 
Marquis is so forgetful. See, he 
has it in his hand. 

Palacios. Madam, madam, why 
should he put on his hat in this 
company ? 

Senora Herrara. He has the right 
to wear his hat in the presence of 
the King of Spain. I hope there is 
no one here will dispute his title. 
Cover yourself, dear Marquis. 

Silva. Alas, madam, will you com- 
pel me to discourtesy to these noble 
persons ? 

Senora Herrara. Marquis, I yielded 
before, but in this I am inflexible. 
You must wear your hat or we can- 
not go on with the business. Son- 
in-law, beg him to put on his hat. 

Palacios. Oh, put on your hat, put 
on your hat, put on your hat ! 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 121 

Silua. Madam, I obey you, but 'tis 
against my will. 

Senora Herrara. Now we are com- 
fortable I hope. Spoke you of papers 
to sign and settlements ? 

Herrara. Yes, wife ; you are grown 
dull to-day. 

Senora Herrara. Perhaps I am 
dull and perhaps I am a foolish old 
woman, but a piece of musty parch- 
ment with the record of a thousand 
years is of more value in my eyes 
than a roomful of mortgages and 
milreis. 

Herrara. You are talking non- 
sense, wife. What is the good of a 
piece of parchment ? We don't use 
it even for writing deeds on any more. 

Senora Herrara. Honor, Herrara, 
honor ! Marquis, tell him what a 
noble thing is honor. 

Silva. If I could talk of honor, 
madam, I should not deem I pos- 
sessed it. 

ll 



122 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Senora Herrara. Do you mark his 
proud modesty, Senor Palacios ? Ah, 
this is what comes of having ances- 
tors. Did you ever hear how the 
Marquisate came into our family ? 
In the great wars between the powers 
of Castile and Arragon and the 
Moors the Count of Cordova, the 
Marquis's fourteenth forefather, did 
great service for the Spanish arms, 
yet he was so just that he was also 
beloved by many of the Moors ; one 
of whom, the Sultan's father-in-law, 
intrusted to him a great mass of 
treasure for safe-keeping. So honor- 
able w T as the Count that he would 
not touch an atom of this wealth, 
but turned it all over to the king, 
his master, who made him Marquis 
on the spot. 

Silva. Madam, madam, you do me 
shame ! What, my ancestor enno- 
bled for a dishonorable deed ! 'Twas 
not so. The king sent to demand 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 123 

the treasure and the Count refused 
it. Soldiers were sent to compel its 
surrender, but my ancestor, placing 
it a burden upon many mules, sallied 
forth with his followers and fought 
his way against his own comrades 
to the Moorish camp, where he 
delivered up the treasure to its 
owner. Then alone he sought the 
king, his master, to forfeit his life 
for the honor he had saved. But 
the king was as great as he, and 
forgave him and sought his friend- 
ship. 

Seilora Herrara. Marquis, permit 
me to know something. 'Tis a 
sensible tale as you tell it. What, 
enrich an enemy, a Moorish enemy ! 

Herrara. Yes, 'twere an act to 
mark a man a fool, not make him 
a Marquis. Any one who cannot 
look after his own interests is either 
mad or else one of those damned 
visionaries, and we know well enough 



124 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

what mercy they get in this world. 
Eh, Palacios ? 

Palacios. Senor Herrara, I listen 
to these things to please your wife. 
I take no interest in them, for I 
haven't yet begun to buy titles. 
"When I do I will look at their teeth. 
But we are delaying business. Shall 
I read the list of properties I place 
in settlement on Jasmin ? 

Senora] Herrara. Business, Senor 
Palacios ! 'Tis a harsh word for 
us women. Come, Jasmin, let us 
leave the gentlemen to arrange these 
things. 

Jasmin. Oh, mother, let me hear 
the list ! 

Senora Herrara. A childlike curi- 
osity, Senor Palacios. You will ex- 
cuse her. But, indeed, your recital 
of property would be foreign matter 
to her. She knows nothing of such 
things. Interrogate her on the virtues 
and accomplishments of girlhood and 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 125 

you will find her perfect. She has 
begun to play on five instruments, 
and she will paint you sheep in a 
landscape so that you will cry " baa." 
Then she knows history, and when 
you are melancholy she will entertain 
you with the names of the seventy- 
two battles in which the ancestors 
of the Marquis, her godfather, have 
taken part. But for business or 
money or things of that kind she 
has no talent. You might as well 
make cloth out of cobwebs as interest 
her in such matters. 

Palacios. Oh, very well, madam. 
Are my gifts nothing? I tell you 
a queen's mouth might water at 
some of the items on this paper. 
I that am used to millions think them 
important. 

Seilora Herrara. Speaking of im- 
portant things, Marquis, how came 
you to forget to wear to-day the 
great two-handed sword of your an- 
il* 



126 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

cestor, the Crusader ? 'Tis his only 
possession, Senor Palacios, but I 
know you would delight to see it. 

Palacios. Swords; what have we 
to do with swords ? "Will you not 
let me read the dowry? 

Senor a Herrara. Dear son-in-law, 
we accept your dowry, — we will 
count it read. It must be no less 
than your wealth can deign to give 
or our honor to receive. Why should 
you be so passionate to spread this 
business out? Suppose I should 
catalogue our part of the bargain 
and force it down your throat. Sup- 
pose I should count up Jasmin's per- 
fections, her youth, her beauty, her 
golden innocence. Suppose I should 
make a continual boast, as you have 
done, of the glory of her godfather's 
descent. Suppose I should recount 
to you the bead roll of his forefathers, 
as you do the items of your rent 
roll. What would you think of 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 127 

me? What would I think of my- 
self? 

Herrara. (Aside.) Wife, wife, you 
go too far ! You will offend Seiior 
Palacios. You will break the con- 
tract. You will mar our peace. 

Senora Herrara. (Aside.) Peace ! 
Peace, Herrara, is only got by arms. 
Would you have me lower mine and 
be under contempt? Not while I 
live. (Aloud.) My dear Herrara, let 
us walk in the garden for a while 
and leave these lovers together that 
they may grow acquainted. Come, 
Marquis. (Aside.) Marquis, stand you 
in the corridor, and enter if they grow 
silent together. I would not trust 
such, a torch as Palacios and such 
inflammable stuff as Jasmin by them- 
selves for the world. 

Silva. What ! must I cry " hem" in 
the corridor ? 

Senora Herrara. You must, you 
must ! 'Tis for the honor of our 



128 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

family. Come, gentlemen, to the 
air. 

Jasmin. {Sunning after her mother.) 
Why, mother, must I stay alone with 
this gentleman ? 

Seiiora Herrara. You see, Senor 
Palacios, what a timid dove it is. 
Have you charms to tame it. Yes, 
child, stay. Adios, son-in-law. 

[Exit Se^oe, and Se^ora Herrara 
and the Marquis. 

Jasmin. Did you speak, sir ? 

Palacios. I ! I don't know. I am 
dizzy. Am I standing up or am I 
sitting down? Nothing is in its 
proper place, and the sun has taken 
to revolving around the earth again. 
Is that you, Jasmin ? Is your mother 
gone ? — Well. Is the Marquis gone ? 
— Oh, well. Sweet chick, do you 
hate me for being rich ? 

Jasmin. Faith o' mine, Senor Pa- 
lacios, in spite of all my mother said 
I love you for it. Have you really 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 129 

got diamonds, Senor, and will you 
give me new dresses ? 

Palacios. One for every kiss. 

Jasmin. Oh, la, don't let's waste 
any time, then. Fd have some to 
my credit. 

Palacios. Palacios, Palacios ! this 
is as it were done after your own 
design ! 

Enter Marquis Luxa de Silva. 

Silva. Jasmin, here is a rose your 
mother sent you from the garden. 

Jasmin. Thank you, dear god- 
father. 

Palacios. Thank you, dear god- 
father. Get me a rose, dear god- 
father ? 

Silva. In a moment, Senor. A 
word in your ear, Jasmin. 

Palacios. [Aside.) Now they are 
whispering. This child seems frank- 
ness itself, but who can tell ? She 
is as candid as sunlight, but who 



130 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

knows what's behind a woman's face ? 
I'll test her on my old pictures here. 
For myself, I think they are damna- 
bly indecent, but the critics tell me 
they are as pure as an infant's dream. 
If they don't shock her I may know 
her mind is innocent. (Aloud.) Are 
you going, Marquis ? What haste, 
Marquis ? We are better for your 
company, Marquis. 

Silva. Senorita, I kiss your feet. 
Adios, Sefior. 

Palacios. Take my arm, Jasmin, 
and let me show you my pictures. 
I have nothing but daubs as yet; 
nothing that costs above two hun- 
dred thousand milreis. What think 
you of them ? 

Jasmin. Oh, how beautiful ! What 
is this? (Beading.) Ulysses parting 
from Calypso. 

Palacios. Yes, that is how they 
pronounce it. But — hem ! — do you 
notice nothing in the picture ? 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 131 

Jasmin. I ! No. But then I know 
so little about art. 

Palacios. 'Tis not art I complain 
of, but nature. Why, — hem ! — they 
have no clothes. 

Jasmin. Why should they, Senor? 
they are so beautiful. 

Palacios. {Aside.) Palacios, I kiss 
my fingers to you. You are a made 
man. {Aloud.) Do you admire the 
figures ? 

Jasmin. Ulysses is so grand, with 
his great shoulders, his flowing hair, 
his straight limbs. 

Palacios. Him with the brass hat ? 
Why, what is he ? I am sure I am 
that tall, and my chest, 'tis as great 
as his. 

Jasmin. Oh, Senor, stand you side 
by side with him. Now I'll meas- 
ure you for comparison. I must 
take my apron to it. 



132 BANQUET OF PALACIOS, 

Enter Herrara, Senora Herrara, and 
the Marquis. 

Senora Herrara. Hem ! Jasmin ! 

Jasmin. Yes, mother. 

Senora Herrara. You should see 
what a pretty little garden 'tis. 
Senor Palacios, I must praise your 
garden. There is almost everything 
one could desire in it. Of course 
we must not talk of the gardens of 
kings or noblemen, but in its way 'tis 
very well. 

Palacios. You make me proud, 
madam. 

Senora Herrara. ISTo, indeed, son- 
in-law, there's no flattery. But I 
think, with your permission, we had 
best all retire to our apartments to 
prepare for the banquet to-night. 
Will you show us the way ? 

Palacios. I will send my servant. 
He will show you some little things 
perhaps. Some comfort, if no coats 
of arms. Apparitio ! 



BANQUET OF PAL AGIOS. 133 

Enter Apparitio. 
Apparitio, show my guests through 
this poor house. Show them the 
great stairway of the statues, — every 
one pure gold or silver with the cost 
honestly engraved on it. Show 
them the hall of mirrors, my fa- 
vorite resort. Show them the great 
room of state with its pillars 
flashing with all precious stones, 
and the allegorical picture of my 
conquest of commerce on the ceil- 
ing. Show them — do not forget to 
show them, Apparitio — the modest 
little throne where I am used to sit 
and give laws to my servants. No 
pomp about the thing, but all the 
more an emblem of my authority. 
Then, Apparitio, take them through 
the ten conservatories of flowers, 
through the twenty bath-rooms of 
marble with flowing fountains, 
through the uncounted bedrooms 
hung in purple or crimson or gold ; 

12 



134 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

take them on, Apparitio, until they 
tire, or until they have seen the few 
and insignificant trifles we have got 
here in Olympos. 

Sefiora Herrara. Marquis, there is 
one thing contents me in this mar- 
riage. The riches of this house will 
serve to faintly remind you of the 
glories of your ancestral homes. 

Palacios. Faintly remind him ! 
Madam, one word. Is this gentle- 
man, this Senor Marquis, to make 
his home with me after my marriage ? 

Sefiora Herrara. Oh, Senor Pala- 
cios, you would not separate Jasmin 
from her godfather ! She has been 
used to the simple grandeur of the 
antique manners, and she would die 
if deprived of such society. Mar- 
quis, give Jasmin your arm. Here, 
Herrara. Let us explore these cav- 
erns of gold and silver. 

[Exit Senor and Se^ora Herrara? 
Jasmin, and the Marquis. 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 135 

Palacios. Are they gone ? Oh, can 
this too be a bad dream ? Alas, no ; 
the enemy is in the house. There is 
no escape. Oh, sit, Palacios, and 
dream again, for either way you are 
undone ! 

Enter Falcon at the door. 

Falcon. Pedro Palacios ! 

Palacios. Who calls ? 

Falcon. Your judge, Palacios. 

Palacios. Alas, what funeral fig- 
ure is this ? 

Falcon. I come for appeal — for 
persuasion ; but if these fail — 
beware! You cannot move me by 
your wealth, awe me with your 
power. You cannot buy my praise, 
you cannot bribe my disdain. 

Palacios. This must be a person of 
importance. Will you sit, Senor, or 
shall I stand ? 

Falcon. Sit! 

Palacios. Oh ! 



136 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Falcon. I will be quiet though my 
injuries cry out. I will be calm 
though my hate convulses me. 
Anger seizes me at sight of your 
wine-dyed face, your flamboyant 
embonpoint, but I will be a model 
of moderation. Youth has the 
smooth, round limbs, age has the 
fringed yellow breeches to put on 
them. Youth has the white, level 
teeth, age has the turtle and dulces to 
employ them. Youth has the arms 
to hold a wife, age has the house 
to imprison her. Curses that this 
should be ! Curses that I behold it ! 

Palacios. Do you speak to me, 
Senor? 

Falcon. Is it you who have be- 
trothed Jasmin Herrara ? Is it you 
who have usurped the rights invio- 
late in me? or do you not know 
yourself? Then listen. I will not 
do you the disgrace of a mirror, 
but will draw you with a flattering 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 137 

brush. You have had the mercy of 
sixty years, and you have misused 
every one of them. You are short, 
and spread out on all sides like a 
tarantula. Your nose is like a talon, 
and your mouth droops at both cor- 
ners like the tail feathers of two 
beaten gamecocks. In short, you 
are a satyr solemnized. And it is 
you who imagine to mate with that 
slender image of youth, Jasmin 
Herrara ! 

Palacios. Oh, this must be another 
bad dream ! 

Falcon. Is there anything in you 
to attract, to interest a woman ? Are 
you a great devil or a great saint? 
Do you flit from flower to flower, 
from soul to soul, and fascinate 
women by the airy grace with which 
you ruin them ? Honestly, you don't. 
Do you fold your arms in melancholy 
scorn and stand upright amid a 
world of crawling things ? No ; you 

12* 



138 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

grovel with the rest of the reptiles. 
To be plain with you, Senor, you 
are as commonplace a ruffian as ever 
bought a bride or sold a friend. 

Palacios. Glo away ! Go away ! If 
it is a dream, go away. 

Falcon. But you are rich. I admit 
you are rich. What is't to be rich? 
Is it to own a great piece of the 
earth which is already gaping to 
own you? Is it to have a good 
meal and no appetite ? Is it to bite 
for an apple and get ashes ? Is it to 
have comfort and be without hope ? 
Alas, riches are nothing. , True 
greatness and distinction need them 
not. I am not rich, Senor. 

Palacios. Mercy! My throat! I 
choke ! 

Falcon. I^ow that you are gentle, 
Senor, now that you are reasonable, 
I can talk with you and perhaps 
draw you to some settlement of our 
affairs. I have come in warrior 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 139 

frankness to my enemy's house. 
Magnanimous]} 7 I have trusted my- 
self to you. You must equal me 
in courtesy. Here stand I, poor in- 
deed, but with the adornment and 
the prophecy of youth upon me. 
Jasmin is near at hand, the full, 
complete orb of girlhood. You will 
look at us. You will say to yourself 
that the making of beautiful mar- 
riages is the sole real business of the 
world. You will realize the hideous- 
ness of your own desires. The mar- 
riage feast is prepared. The music 
is ready. You will give Jasmin to 
me and estate us with a great sum 
for noble expenditure. This is your 
mood. This is your meaning. Do 
I not say true ? 

Palacios. Oh, just heavens ! Your 
name, your name, your name ! 

Falcon. Juan Flores Falcon, poet 
and dreamer to his majesty the 
world. 



140 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Palacios. Fiery devils support me ! 
Is there no law, is there no religion, 
that I must suffer so ? Is my house 
a den of cut-throats ? Are my thou- 
sand servants helpless to save me? 
Senor, Senor, you shall be hanged 
to-day, and brought to life and tor- 
tured to-morrow ! I will have you 
resurrected fifty times for my re- 
venge. 

Falcon. Why are you angry, 
Senor ? 

Palacios. Do you talk to me of 
poetry ? Poetry ! This chair is real, 
these clothes I have got on are real, 
my dinner is real, but poetry is not 
real. Poetry is a fool. Perdition to 
your poetry ! 

Falcon. Senor, this excitement is 
in exceeding bad taste. Since you 
meet my friendly advances so, I will 
leave you. 

Palacios. Apparitio ! Ho, there, 
Apparitio ! You faithless fool, am 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 141 

I to be at the mercy of wandering 
phantoms ? Apparitio, I say ! 

Enter Apparitio. 

Apparitio. I attend you, Senor. 

Palacios. Take this fellow and let 
him rot in my stables ! Throw him 
into my cellar and let the rats eat 
him! 

Apparitio. Gently, Senor. You 
will hurt yourself by this fit. 

Palacios. I am old am I, and a 
satyr? You shall starve for that. 
I have no intellect, eh? You shall 
praise the witty writing of my whip 
upon your skin. I am not fit to mate 
with Jasmin, — Jasmin is for you. 
That is your death-sentence. Oh, 
you monstrous villain ! 

Apparitio. Calm yourself, Senor. 

Palacios. Apparitio, I cannot trust 
myself. Take him where I cannot 
see him. To rob me of Jasmin, 
pretty Jasmin ! 



142 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Apparitio. Let me help you to your 
room, Senor. 

Palacios. Lend me your arm. I 
have had many a shock. Keep be- 
tween me and that basilisk. Now 
I am stronger. Look you to him. 
Jasmin, my Jasmin ! [Exit. 

Apparitio. Senor, you see what you 
have done ? 

Falcon. Master echo, do you follow 
this man more directly than you 
do your own nose ? Do you never 
think ? 

Apparitio. Alas, how should I? I 
have lived twenty years with Senor 
Palacios. 

Falcon. Must I lie in his dens ? 

Apparitio. Are you not Senor Fal- 
con, the poet? 

Falcon. Some such thing. 

Apparitio. Be comfortable, then, 
Senor. I understand my master. 
I have seen his rages before. I have 
known him in one of his sullen fits 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 143 

refuse meat more than seven times 
a day, yet, shortly, he would be 
doing kindnesses. He will forget 
all about you in twenty-four hours. 

Falcon. You are a friend, Senor. 

Apparitio. Only one who honors 
merit. You would not think it, but 
there is talent in this house. "We 
write, Senor. There is a little coterie 
of us, cooks and waiting gentlemen, 
who are the best company in the 
world, for we praise each other's 
verses eternally. 

Falcon. You interest me. 

Apparitio. Yes. There is Prance- 
lina, the cook. She has the most 
marvellous vein of amorous poetry 
in the world. Her verses breathe 
Sappho and seductions. You — you'd 
think she was in love. 

Falcon. Wonderful! 

Apparitio. As for me, I choose a 
chaster line. My specialty is death, 
— death and damnation. Did you 



144 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

see that little thing of mine in the 
last number of the Diario do Belem ? 
It began thus : 

Death, dearest Death, 

Come suck my useless breath, 

Make me again to be 

A nothing like to thee, 

Or chain me on the rocks 

'Mid Hell's most hideous shocks, 

And so forth, and so forth. How 
does that strike you ? 

Falcon. The and so forth is ex- 
cellent. 

J^paritio. Come dine with us, 
Senor Falcon, and w r e will praise 
your verses too. And you shall eat 
of every dish before it is sent up to 
the banquet. 

Falcon. Oh, lead me to the stables ! 

[Exeunt. 



SCENE V. 

Palacios' Banquet Hall 

At the table Palacios, Senor and Senora 
Herrara, Jasmin, Senor Barboza, 
Marquis Luna de Silva, Padre Cyp- 
rian, Padre Pacifico, Lieutenant 
Santos, and Titan Pape. 

Palacios. Has any one escaped my 
hospitality? Here we all are. I 
myself, you fellows as your rank 
may be, and lastly, the ladies. "Well, 
have your stomachs got over the 
strangeness of this eating yet? Do 
you begin to understand how I live ? 
I ask no thanks, but the man who 
doesn't get drunk is my enemy. 
Jasmin, I drink to you. I salute 
you in this cup. 

Senora Herrara. Daughter, you 
should acknowledge the honor. 
13 145 



146 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Jasmin. I'm sure I am much 
obliged to him for his trouble, but 
he keeps drinking to me so much 
I can't open my mouth for my own 
eating. 

Palacios. But why are you all 
silent? why are you all solemn? 
The banquet is paid for. Where's 
your wit? Where's your laughter? 
Where's your reckless deviltry? 
Do your consciences permit you to 
deal this way with me? I don't 
expect you to be as amusing as I am, 
but in your way, in your way. 
Titan Pape, I hired you to be mel- 
ancholy, but there's more need of 
mirth. Laugh, then, talk and 
laugh. 

Titan Pape. Talking and laughing 
were not included in my contract, 
Senor. 

Senora Herrara. You are right, 
son-in-law, to demand conversation. 
What are these viands to wit ? What 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 147 

is this wine to sentiment ? I declare 
in my house we often become so rapt 
in the Marquis Luna de Silva's talk 
and legends of the past that we for- 
got to use food at all. Marquis, you 
are the man to open this debate. A 
person of your consequence is never 
at a loss for conversation. Pray, say 
something. 

Silva. Certainly, madam. Will 
you pass me that truffled fowl ? 

Seilora Herrara. Always witty, 
Marquis. Now you, lieutenant. 
Soldiers fear nothing, and your 
tongues are as bright as your swords. 

Santos. Madam, have you any dis- 
eases ? 

Seilora Herrara. Mercy! Do you 
insult me, man ? 

Santos. Alas, you bade me speak ! 
What is there to talk about in the 
world but the prospect of leaving it. 
I cannot open my eyes but I see such 
a mass of diseases, such a sum of 



148 BANQUET OF PAL AGIOS. 

sickness, that my senses reel. You, 
madam, have a healthy color, but I 
have known people of your com- 
plexion, and they were corpses before 
night. 

Senora Herrara. Just Heaven, I 
have cried the wrong tiger! Ah ? 
Senor Barboza! You, who dwell 
amid poetry and live off of eloquence, 
you can help us in our need. 

Barboza. Madam, I sell words, not 
throw them away. 

Senora Herrara. Had I your econ- 
omy, I'd buy the universe. Padre 
Pacifico, I throw ires seizes when I 
call on you. Your profession is in 
your tongue. 

Pacifico. Alas, madam, I cannot 
talk in this off-hand, hasty way. 
Give me time, two or three days or 
a month, and I will concoct you as 
pretty a conversation as you would 
wish. Or I have something in my 
pocket that may serve. 'Tis my 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 149 

choicest prose, a funeral oration on 
one of the brothers of our order at 
the Breves Mission. Will you hear 
it? 

Palacios. Funerals ! who talks of 
funerals ? This is my betrothal ban- 
quet. What's the matter with this 
menagerie, any how ? Do you want 
more wine to stir you up ? Is there 
no blood in any of you ? Of course 
we can't have real wit, stories that 
will make us roar, until the ladies 
go. But do none of you men know 
a rhyme of gibberish or tricks to 
blacken one another's faces ? If you 
break a plate or two for a jest, I'll 
never cry. Damn dulness, I say ! 
I drink to you, Jasmin. 

Oyprian. (Starting up.) What face 
was that at the door-way ? 

Titan Pape. 'Twas my daughter, I 
think, Erere. 

Cyprian. Sen or, you must excuse 
me. Ladies, I crave your pardon. 

13* 



150 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

My head is dizzj T , I must out into 
the air. [Exit. 

Pacijico. Let no one be disturbed. 
This is a fainting sickness that comes 
upon my brother often and unex- 
pectedly. 

Santos. Perhaps it is catching. 
Oh, Seiior Palacios, send for a doctor ! 
I saw Cyprian turn yellow, and 'tis a 
sign of the plague, Quick ! Would 
you have us all lying stiff beside 
your table ? 

Palacios. Pooh! You a soldier! 
The Padre is only suffering from a 
repletion of emptiness. Pie ate 
nothing. But, oh, gentlemen, I beg 
of you to be merrier! This is my 
banquet, and if nobody laughs I am 
disgraced. What do you want, Ap- 
paritio? Don't annoy me when I 
am enjoying myself. 

Apparitio. There's a girl at the 
door and she sends a message to you. 

Palacios. Who's she? I know no 



BANQUET OF PAL AGIOS. 151 

girls but Jasmin. Sweet Jasmin, I 
drink to you. 

Apparitio. She says that if you 
want entertainment for your ban- 
quet, Falcon, the poet, whom you 
have locked in the stable, will fur- 
nish it. She says he is a great magi- 
cian and can do miracles. 

Palacios. What! is he a juggler 
too ? I thought he was nothing but 
a poet. If he has any real talents, 
if he can swallow fire or stand on 
his head on a pyramid of decanters, 
we'll have him in. Hey, lads ? 

Omnes. We'll have him in ! 

Palacios. Let him loose, Apparitio. 
Who's afraid ? [Exit Apparitio. 

Where's any one will do for his 
guests what I do? They say I'm 
proud, but I keep up no dignity to 
those I favor. Jasmin, your health. 
I might eat by myself, drink by 
myself, be married by myself, and 
no thanks to any of you, but I am 



152 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

lovable and full of sweet society. 
There's no tyranny in me, but every 
man in his place I say. Whoop ! 

Enter Falcon, bursting in without coat and 
the straw sticking to him. 

Here's our man. Now we shall 
laugh. To it, Senor. Say some- 
thing witty to begin with. 

Falcon. What is this place, these 
people ? The lights dazzle me ! 

Omnes. Ha! ha! ha! 

Falcon. Oh, Senor, I know you! 
You are my Host of the Stables. 
How shall I pay for my entertain- 
ment? 

Omnes. Ha! ha! ha! 

Falcon. What! do you all laugh 
at me ? Which shall I kill first ? 

Omnes. Ha ! ha ! ha ! 

Falcon. Alas, pitiable me ! Jas- 
min is here. I am lost in her 
sight. 

Palacios. Do you call this fooling? 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 153 

Where's your tricks ? Erere told us 
you were a magician. 

Falcon. Erere! 

Palacios. Swore } t ou could do mira- 
cles. 

Falcon. Said she so ! Then I can. 
Pardon me, all of you. My entrance 
was only a stage feint. Now to my 
conjuration. But first, will you as- 
sist me, will you help me in my act ? 

Palacios. Ay, old boy, till we smell 
sulphur. 

Falcon. Then I must be among 
you. This seat beside you, Senorita, 
will do. {Aside.) Jasmin, I love you, 
I adore you ! 

Jasmin. {Aside.) Well, you may, 
sir, but not before Senor Palacios. 

Pcdacios. What are you whispering 
there ? 

Falcon. Only an incantation to my 
familiar spirit. Now, are you ready, 
Senores? You are to watch me, to 
follow my every motion, match each 



154 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

of my gestures, till your very thoughts 
grow one with mine. Behold, I pour 
out a glass of wine. Do you the 
same. Now, to my lips. And you. 
Off with it ! 

Palacios. That's easy enough. But 
what's the virtue of it ? 

Falcon. Do not be impatient, Senor. 
Impatience will spoil all. The spell 
will work soon enough. Again 
I pour out wine, again you follow 
me. 

Palacios. But what is it for? Is 
it fortune-telling or raising a black 
spirit in a circle ? 

Falcon. 'Tis not for you to know 
yet. I make fortunes, not tell them. 
Again, ready ? 

Palacios. Faith, I feel a dizziness 
in my head. Is that where the spell 
work first ? 

Herrara. I think it rather enters 
at the knees. 

Palacios. Whoop ! Now the table 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 155 

begins to turn. Draw back or the 
comet will singe you. 

Falcon. Hush ! The sacred fumes 
arise. The moment is propitious. 
But one influence works against me. 
There's one thing to be done yet. 

Palacios. What's one thing ? You 
lie, there's two things, three things 
up and down before me. 

Falcon. The ladies must leave the 
room. The secret spell will not work 
with the ladies present. 

Seiiora Herrara. Secret, indeed ! 
I don't believe you have any secret. 

Herrara. I beg you, wife. Maybe 
he has and maybe he hasn't. It 
don't cost anything to try. He 
spoke of making our fortunes. 

Palacios. Ha ! ha ! "What's the 
use of secrets and ladies in the 
room? You must go, ladies. I'll 
help you out if I can feel where you 
are. Which is my hand and which 
is the door ? 



156 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Falcon. Sit still, Senor Palacios, 
and I'll help the ladies out. Come, 
Senoritas. Dear madam, farewell. 
Jasmin (aside), in an hour from now 
in the garden. By the gods I love 
you ! Adios ! Adios ! 

Palacios. What a man he is ! La- 
dies or the bottle, it's all one to 
him. 

Falcon. Now to the test. 

Herrara. If it's gold or silver, I 
have some acid in my pocket. 

Falcon. Peace, sordid soul! "lis 
a greater matter than that. Know 
you that by my enchantment I can 
for one night command the treasures 
of the world. Obey me, follow my 
orders, and to-night you may live as 
lords of nature and of dreams. But 
first, the sacred wine again. Drink 
slowly. Now I am prepared. I 
dilate with power. Senor Palacios, 
what is't you want ? 

Palacios. Want! What do you 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 157 

mean by want ? I want for nothing. 
There's wine in the cellar. 

Falcon. But what do you desire ? 
You may choose and have. 

Pakieios. Apparitio, what do I de- 
sire ? Where's Apparitio ? 

Falcon. Apparitio cannot help you. 
'Tis the secret inclination of your 
soul I grant. 

Palacios. What are you preaching 
about souls for ? Gentlemen, and you 
be so moral I'll sleep. Is there no 
music in you ? Have you no risky 
songs, no indecent ballads ? (Sings.) 

There was a lass went out to swim ; 

All in the summer weather; 
Alone she went, alone she came, 

Yet two came home together. 

Where's Jasmin? That's what I 
want ! Jasmin and a boy heir. Let 
him have my nose and a pock-marked 
face, and be born with a caul. Can 

14 



158 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

you do it, Wizard? We'll have a 
christening to-night. Drink to my 
boy heir, all of you. Can you not 
stand up to drink to my boy heir ? 

Falcon. Senor, it shall be done. 
Now, Herrara, what for you ? 

Herrara. Faith, I dare not say it 
aloud. If my legs will bear me, I'll 
come around and speak it in your 
ear. 

Falcon. Take my hand. So ! Is 
that all ? You shall live forever — 
to-night. Padre Pacifico, speak ! 

Pacifico. I desire nothing but to 
be a bishop and preach twice a week 
in the great cathedral. If you have 
any power, do not judge me by ap- 
pearances. I am not drunk, Senor. 
'Tis against the policy of our order 
to get drunk. I am only melancholy. 
There was a lady loved me once, and 
'tis thinking of her makes me cry 
thus. But I am not drunk. Do not 
injure me in } 7 our thought, Senor. 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 159 

Falcon. You shall not need to cry 
— to-night. Lieutenant Santos, shall 
I kill Death for you — to-night. 

Santos. Death ! Who fears death ? 
Not I. If my sword were here I'd 
show you. Do you look black at 
me, Seflor, or you ? My blood boils 
in me. What's the matter with this 
chair ? It's legs won't walk. 

Falcon. Enough ! Enough ! Look 
at me, Senor Palacios. I will take 
you out into Arcadia. You shall lie 
on green couches under the silver 
trees. To-night, to-night we shall 
roam at large like gods. 

Palacios. Yes, let's be gods. 

Falcon. But, Senor, before we 
enter into this domain you must 
disinherit yourself of your estate — 
deny yourself authority. In Arcadia 
we must all be equal. You shall be 
Pan, keeper of the woods, and we 
shall be visitant divinities. 

Palacios. Yes, I know I am Pan. 



160 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Gentlemen, I command you to be 
my equals. 

Falcon. Call in Apparitio, Senor, 
and resign your keys and command 
to him. Apparitio ! 

Palacios. Who's Apparitio ? {Enter 
Apparitio.) What do you want? 

Falcon. He forgets his shadow. 
Senor, give over the order of the 
house to him. 

Palacios. Apparitio, you are a free 
man. Here's my keys. You are 
my equal, and are to go into Arcadia 
to wait on me. 

Falcon. Oh, joy! Rise, wake, all 
of you ! Our voyage to Arcadia 
begins. What a company ! 

Herrara. Faith, I cannot see. A 
candle, a candle ! 

Barboza. Is't bedtime ? 

Santos. Where am I ? 

Falcon. Rise, noble gentlemen. 
Stand in line. Dress company ! 
Let your courage be your support, 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 161 

and leave off holding by your chairs. 
Ready! Attention! March! Fol- 
low me ! 

Palacios. Follow me, I say! Let 
somebody tie this floor down. 

Pacifico. Oh, if I should fall ! 
There's an abyss on each side of 
me. 

Falcon. Now, Senores, dance ! 

Palacios. This is excellent. What 
steps I can make ! 

Herrara. My blood is up too. 

Falcon. Faster, higher ! 

Palacios. Titan Pape, why the devil 
don't you hop higher ? 

Falcon. Now we are off! 

Palacios. Now we are off! 

[Falcon pipes on a fork, and dances 
fantastically about the room followed 
by the rest. 

Falcon. Thrice about the room I 

go, 

Pipe and crack my cheeks and blow, 
Thrice the banquet board about, 

14* 



1G2 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Followed by this rabble rout. 

Ah, you fawn on me athirst, 

Swilling wind until you burst, 

Fools of life, whom I can make 

Fools of fancy though awake. 

On your eyelids lies my charm, 

To your hearts you hug my harm ; 

Truth I bring, but Truth becomes 

Poison in ignoble homes. 

Though your real selves of the past 

By my spell is overcast, 

Still yon glimpse through doors I 
ope 

Every one his secret hope. 

You (to Palacios) would seek un- 
rivalled rule ; 

You (to Herrara) would make the 
world your fool ; 

You (to Barboza) would seem un- 
seemly wise ; 

You (to Pacifico) would have a bene- 
fice; 

111 it were to all the rest 

If a single dream were blest. 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 163 

All the wealth that men might hold, 

The Hesperidean gold, 

Nothing is to you, for you 

Never could believe it true. 

See, above the moon does glide 

Like an unashamed bride, 

And the stars triumphant kill 

Every ghost and gliding ill ; — 

All your treasure's in your eyes ! 

Make or mar your Paradise ! 

Halt! My spell is wrought and 

done : 
You are free to walk or run. 
Out, my sottish, goblin crew 
And the golden years renew T . 
Twenty minutes I do give 
In Arcadia you to live, 
Ere your warring tempers will 
All the place with clamor fill. 
I have brought you to the gates, 
Go, go, go, and try your fates. 

Away ! away ! Into Arcadia, all of 
you. [Exeunt. 



SCENE VI. 

Palacios' garden. 
Enter Palacios and Jasmin. 

Jasmin. Does the freshness of the 
air revive you, Senor ? 

Palacios. I know your sweet hand 
and I know your face. You are 
Jasmin, and this is my garden. 
What makes my voice so thick? 
Are you deaf? Oh, let me sit on 
this bank and put my feet in your 
lap! 

Jasmin. This is not your garden, 
Senor ! This is Arcadia. You are 
to play a part here, — one Pan, a 
hairy fellow with an ear for music. 

Palacios. This is my garden. I 
am not Pan, I am Pedro Palacios. 
But if you take my property away 
from me I am nobody. This domain 

164 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 165 

is me, and the money at my banker's 
is another me. 

Jasmin. How sweet you are, then, 
Seiior Palacios ! The air of this 
place is fragrant and haunted with 
the souls of flowers. 

Palacios. The air of this garden is 
a private, a special air. The place is 
walled from the common part of my 
estate. There are fourteen acres of 
stars attached to it and constellations 
not public to the world. 

Jasmin. And you have made it all 
over for an Arcadia. How kind, 
Senor ! 

Palacios. You mock me with mak- 
ing over. I tell you this garden 
belongs to me. That house belongs 
to me. You belong to me. Every- 
thing belongs to me. 

Jasmin. Alas, no, Senor. Not to- 
night. Girls belong to anybody in 
Arcadia. Senor Falcon has made a 
new law. 



166 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Palaeios. Falcon ! Now I remem- 
ber. Marquis Luna de Silva ! Now 
I know all. Let me away ! Let me 
arouse my people ! There's death 
in my mind. Oh, I am bloody- 
thoughted ! 

Enter Apparitio and Titan Pape. 

Apparitio. Hey, old skeleton, canst 
drink ? Will your bones hold moist- 
ure ? Stand steady, I say ! Oh, do 
not let me break ! You'd not believe 
it, old mouse-trap, but I was never 
drunk before. What noise was that ? 
Do you think I am afraid ? Here's 
my heart thundering in my breast. 
I am free. I can laugh, I can frown. 
If my master were here I'd frown on 
him. Master, do I say? There's 
no masters more. Down on your 
knees to me, you villain ! 

Titan Pape. Alas, what happiness 
I have lost! I cannot get drunk. 

Apparitio. Titan Pape, I'll show 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 167 

you how to be a gentleman. I learned 
it of ray master. Ifow ! Senor Fool , 
get me my shaving-cup ! Idiot, buy 
me a province before breakfast ! Ap- 
paritio, dear Apparitio, I have the 
toothache. And so forth. Oh, 
Lord, how easy it is to be a gentle- 
man when other people will let you ! 

Palacios. (Advancing.) Dog! do 
you mock me ? 

Apparitio. Dog yourself. I am 
free. I can fly. Will you frown at 
me out of your cloudy windows ? 
Then I'll beat you. (Seizes Pala- 
cios.) Titan Pape, help me to beat 
him. 

Titan Pape. I'll not help you beat 
him, but I'll keep him from objecting. 
Gently, Senor; no striking back. 

Palacios. Oh, murder, villains, 
murder ! Help me, Jasmin ! 

[Exit Palacios, Apparitio, and 
Titan Pape. 

Jasmin. Why should the poor, dear 



168 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

gentleman be beaten? I have not 
married him yet. But look ! Here 
comes my other betrothed, and my 
father with him. I must not see 
Falcon in such company. There's 
plenty of privacy about. [Exit 

Enter Falcon and Herrara. 

Herrara. No, Senor, I care nothing 
for these gewgaws of entertainment 
and display. My money is set to 
better uses. It waxes, not wastes. 
Those who come after me w T ill find 
me fat, I assure you. 

Falcon. Those who come after you 
are worms. You'll scarce content 
them. 

Herrara. Worms ! You are plain, 
Seiior. Then I'll pay you in kind. 
I like you well enough, but there's 
some people who do not want you 
for an every-day diet. That jest 
you played on us was good. You 
led us by the nose, — you made us 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 169 

see signs and wonders. I can laugh 
at it ; but Palacios is dreadful in his 
anger. You are witty, but where 
wealth is, wit were best awa} r . Go 
away and play jokes on somebody 
else and we will laugh at them. 
And this o-irl who follows at your 
heels; let her go with you. I 
would not have my daughter meet 
her in this garden for the world. 
The innocent must be protected, 
Senor. 

Falcon. Senor, I can advise my- 
self. And I can protect this child, 
even from your daughter. 

JSerrara. I will not fight ! I will 
not fight ! I have said all. Adios. 

[Exit. 

Erere. Must we go away, Senor 
Falcon? 

Falcon. Erere, I am a top whirled 
by chance. I shall never know 
which way I really point until I fall 
dead. What do you advise ? 
"l5 



170 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Frere. Oh, Senor, now is your 
hour and opportunity ! The master 
of the house is drunk, the guests 
dispersed, the servants lost in liberty 
and these obscure woods. Make 
your play. Seek out Jasmin, besiege 
her with prayers, draw her to the 
river where the boats await. I will 
secure Padre Pacifico to fly with us, 
and to-night shall this heaven lose 
its goddess and the little hut in Para 
be enriched with golden guests. Is 
it not well told ? 

Falcon. A pretty telling of a pretty 
dream, Have you more of it? 

Frere. Dream ! You are dull to- 
night. Oh, let your heart be fire, 
your hand be iron, your tongue be 
honey, and nothing can resist you ! 
Bolts and bars cannot resist you. 
Your love must come, inevitably she 
must come to you. Tides are not 
surer. Oh, were I a man ! 

Falcon. Heaven keep us from ca- 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 171 

lamities ! But what would you do 
if you were a man ? 

Erere. Make wings spring from 
Jasmin's shoulders to fly to me. 
Make her blood turn to quicksilver 
to run to me. Master of mine, you 
need only to dare and all is won. 
Fortune and love hunt not a flying 
suitor. 

Falcon. She is a sweet lady, but I 
fear her fortune is above me. 

Erere. You are a fool ! Sweet 
lady, and hold back! Fortune, and 
hesitate ! If she is a goddess, she 
has only got two arms. If she owns 
the earth, she can only sleep in one 
bed at once. But see ! There she 
walks in the garden, like a flower 
whose head droops, wanting the 
strength of the sun. Now she stands 
irresolute and waiting. Are you 
dead ? Go to her ! Wake her ! 
Win her ! But no ! In this mood 
I had as well send an icicle to woo 



172 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

a rose-bud to open. Hide you here 
and Fll be your messenger. 

[Exit Falcon. 

Enter Jasmin. 

Jasmin, dear lady ! 

Jasmin. Is that you, Erere ? 

ErfoL Dear Jasmin, can you keep 
here so quiet when my master is 
scouring the wood hungry for your 
love ? I left him by the Fountain 
of the Naiads, but now almost mad 
with the pain of not finding you. 
Hark ! Is that his cry ? Ah, no ! 
'tis only the ringing of the anvil 
bird. Unless you take this instant 
opportunity and elope with Senor 
Falcon from this place, I fear he 
cannot live through the night. Shall 
I bring him here ? Or better, let us 
walk towards him, — 'tis the path to 
liberty. 

Jasmin. No ! no ! no ! I can't 
elope with so little ceremony as this. 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 173 

And besides, I have not made up my 
mind to love Senor Falcon. 

Erere. Why, Senorita, you were of 
a different opinion yesterday. 

Jasmin. Yesterday ! Yesterday is 
dead. There's other things to be 
considered. If you had seen my 
wedding-presents you'd wonder I 
talk of Falcon. 

Erere. Have j^ou so many ? 

Jasmin. Erere, I am almost crazy 
trying to count them. And as for 
knowing what they are for, the Wise 
Men who gave the first presents 
would be puzzled. There's every- 
thing in the world to wear that 
sparkles with fire, everything that 
dances with light, and my heart 
glows and my feet dance, dance as 
I try one piece after another on, until 
I am mad with joy at my bargain. 
Come now, what can your Falcon 
give more than this ? 

Erere. Nothing! 
15* 



174 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Jasmin. Nothing? 

Erere. No ! He'll do better by 
you than make you presents. He'll 
allow you to love him to your heart's 
desire. What girl worth the name 
would not rather throw her soul, 
pieced out with her body, at her 
lover's feet than take an empire 
from his hands ? 

Jasmin. Oh, that ! That's true too. 
And anyhow, he'll write poems to 
me. 

Erere. Not after you are married. 
But he'll read you the verses he 
writes to other women. 

Jasmin. Mercy o' me ! 

Erere. Jasmin, Jasmin, do not 
throw this chance away ! You may 
marry Falcon, you may take care of 
him, and yet you hesitate. Why, 
child, he has no bed, and your arm 
shall be his pillow. The world is 
against him, and your breast shall be 
his shield. He is poor, and your 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 175 

heart shall be his riches. Here's an 
opportunity to be the man's whole 
round of fate, — his providence, his 
prosperity, his paradise, — and j t ou 
stand in doubt, stand cold as a mid- 
night fountain. 

Jasmin. No indeed, Erere. I am 
sure I like Falcon well enough. 

JErere. Think of the hundred ways 
you may serve him. Think of the 
thousand ways you may suffer for 
him. He'll be all your own, and the 
hungrier and more ragged you grow 
the more will you inherit in him. 
You will earn the right to wait on 
his melancholy or his mirth with 
silent ministrations. What more 
could a girl ask ? 

Jasmin. Silence ! There's no fun 
in that. I'd rather tell lies than keep 
silence. 

HJrere. Oh, come with me and let 
us find Falcon ! 

Jasmin. In a moment. You spoke 



176 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

of hunger. Do you think I shall be 
hungry ? 

Erere. I am certain of it. And 
sick too. Nothing shall be wanting 
to fulfil your fondness. Why do. 
you edge away ? 

Jasmin. And he won't give me one 
little diamond ? 

Erere. Diamonds would spoil all. 
Where are you going ? 

Jasmin. Wait for me a little, Erere. 
I must go and study out my felicity 
alone. There ought to be oracles to 
consult on such occasions. Good-by, 
Erere. 

Erere. Now if my master were 
only here to seize the golden mo- 
ment ! 

Enter Falcon. 

Why, so he comes. And yawning, 
rubbing his eyes ! Senor, Senor, you 
have never been asleep on your bridal 
eve ! Is this your ardor, your im- 
patience ? Here's Jasmin dying for 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 177 

love of you; one moment burning 
with blushes, the next bathed in 
tears. And you sleeping like a slug 
in the wood ! If you waste time thus 
there'll be no elopement to-night, 

Falcon. Nor am I sure there will be. 

Erere. What, not elope ! Why, 
the stars whisper from their mys- 
terious strings an admonition to 
elope. The moon careers in full 
cry through heaven, and that's its 
message. The winds sing, the leaves 
lisp the word. Every forest path is 
an invitation, every shady covert a 
demand that you instantly leave all 
other business and elope. 

Falcon. Well, then, I will, but I 
must change my companion. Will 
you choose another for me ? 

Erere. What do you say ? I will 
attend you in a moment. Here 
comes Jasmin back. Stand where 
you are. Nay, if you run away I'll 
set Palacios on you. 



178 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Re-enter Jasmin. 

Oh, Jasmin, this is a happy hour ! 
Here is Senor Falcon on his knees 
to you. 

Jasmin. I come back to speak to 
you, Erere, but I can go away again. 
Please let me go away. 

Erere. Not till we have this out. 
Senor Falcon, your hand. Dear 
children, I have been a poor carrier- 
pigeon for your great correspondence. 
You neither of you know how much 
you love each other. Now {joining 
their hands) make your own testi- 
mony and avouchment. 

Jasmin. Erere, I hear somebody 
calling me from the house. I must 
go away. Senor, please let go my 
hand. 

Falcon. Senorita, please let go of 
mine. Erere, Pacifico awaits me. 

[Exit Falcon and Jasmin, separately. 

Erere. Have both my love-birds 
flown ? Well, I'll be a missionary of 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 179 

marriage no longer. If somebody 
would only persuade me ! Those 
who are willing are not wanted, and 
desire follows after denial. 

Enter Padre Cyprian and Padre Pa- 
cifico. 

Cyprian. Find me thick shadows. 
They fit my mood best. 

Pacifico. Content you, dear brother, 
content you. Oh, if I could only 
remember that passage in my Easter 
sermon in which I describe the brief 
and blasting glory of mortal passion, 
'twould do you good ! 'Tis in the 
style of St. Augustine after he for- 
sook the companionship of girls. 

Cyprian. What spirit starts before 
us ? 'Tis moonlight made marble, — 
a ghost with glad eyes. Erere ! 

Erere. Gentle fathers, I salute you. 

Pacifico. Dear child, good-night. 
Now is the flame drawn into the fire. 
Will you come away, Cyprian ? 



180 BANQUET OF PAL AGIOS. 

Cyprian. No ; let me stay. I will 
be calm, calm as one about to die. 
Erere, how old are you ? 

Erere. Fifteen, Padre Cyprian. 

Cyprian. So young, so good. 
Youth is beautiful, but it is not wise ; 
it is not kind, and you are both. 
Angels are of no age. 

Erere. Alas, Padre, you mistake 
me. If you or Padre Pacifico would 
hear me confess, I blush to think 
w T hat I have to tell. 

Cyprian. Talk not of confessions 
to me. Were you born in Ceara ? 

Erere. Yes, Padre. 

Cyprian. I know not why I ask. 
Near the sea-shore ? 

Erere. Yes. Where the waves 
trailed in and out like the rustling 
skirts of a great garment. 

Cyprian. Played you with the 
sea? 

Erere. Why, as I would with you. 
I ran among the rocks and peered in 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 181 

the half-empty caves and dared some 
monster to seize me. 

Cyprian. Monster ! Oh, heaven ! 

Erere. Are you sick, dear Padre ? 

Cyprian. Yes, child, but with 
no known ill. There is a subtle 
poison working in me. Perhaps 
you have the antidote. You love 
Senor Falcon, do you not? 

Erere. Why, I follow him, but why 
should I love him? He cheapens 
women. If he should cut his finger 
he would use a woman instead of a 
cobweb to mend it. Oh, I love him 
not! 

Cyprian. He is good to look at. 

Erere. Oh, Padre, the first time I 
saw him I thought the sun had come 
down into the street ! When he went 
away it was dark, so I followed him. 

Cyprian. Then you do love him ? 

Erere. How do I know whether I 
love him or not. He has not asked 
me. 

16 



182 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Cyprian. Well, you have given me 
my antidote. Pacifico, come here; 
I have something to tell you both. 

Pacifico. Ha ! you look more cheer- 
ful. You smile. I knew counsel 
would cure you. 

Cyprian. Brother, I know your 
heart. You have loved me and 
served me. Now you must love me 
and pray for me. I go on a long 
journey. Seven hundred miles in 
the interior of these woods there is 
a tribe of wild Indians. I have 
been among them. They know me, 
and I will save them to the church. 
To-night I return to our quarters; 
procure me what things I need, and 
before daybreak I will be on my way 
to my distant Mission. Farewell, 
then, brother ; Erere, farewell. 

Pacifico. Why, they are cannibals, 
Cyprian. You will be eaten, and 
they are bad cooks too. What in- 
sanity is this ? You have no flesh to 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 183 

spare to feed Indians with. The 
moon has got into your brain and 
you jest with us. 

Cyprian. It is earnest, Pacifico, but 
whether sad and serious or merry 
and pleasant, I know not. 

Pacifico. What am I to do if you 
desert me? You know you are the 
soul of our partnership. Alone, I 
am only a beast trampling the grass. 
Suppose they come at me with great 
questions, how shall I answer them 
if I have not you to run to ? Sup- 
pose I fall myself, as may be, who 
shall pull me up erect? Oh, forgive 
me, Cyprian, that I deemed you too 
a sinner! Fire cleanses itself, and 
your spirit is a never-ceasing flame. 
But do not leave me. "Tis Pacifico 
implores, 'tis your old comrade prays 
to you. 

Cyprian. Pacifico, it must be. Say 
no more. Erere, I have one last 
word for you. 



184 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

JErere. Dear Padre, I attend you. 

Cyprian. You are a woman. You 
majr think more kindly of me when 
I am gone if you know my secret. 
I came upon you in the prison, Erere, 
and I saw your soul sitting in your 
eyes in dumb divineness, and I loved 
you. Since then the very elements 
of my nature have been at war to 
wreck me. My vows and your de- 
votion have preserved my reason. 
But I must fly from the peril of your 
face. There must be no dying adieus 
and echoes of departure, but separa- 
tion and instant silence. 

JErere. Alas ! I can say nothing. 

Pacifico. Oh, dearest brother, do 
you go so quickly? I have a hun- 
dred riddles for you to unravel be- 
fore you depart. To think that the 
brightest ornament of our order must 
make a mess for cannibals. They 
will cook you, Cyprian, to a certainty 
they will cook you. Well, I will go 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 185 

some way with jom. Alas, alas, 
what emptiness must come out of 
my mouth hereafter ! 

[Exit Padre Cyprian and Padre 
Pacifico. 

Erere. I am amazed and wonder. 

Re-enter Falcon. 

Falcon. Hat in hand and on my 
knee, Erere, I salute you. 

Erere. Senor, Senor, you mock me ! 

Falcon. Not I ! I am certainly a 
fool, and by conjecture a madman, 
but I am serious at last. "What you 
have seen has been the folly of my 
wit. Marry me, Erere, and I will 
study stupidity until the world shall 
cry " How good a husband !" 

Erere. Why, Senor, you are in 
love with Jasmin. 

Falcon. Jasmin! There is no Jas- 
min. 

Erere. Alas, how you men change ! 
I could repeat twenty invocations of 

16* 



186 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

yours to Jasmin. Well, I suppose 
to-morrow it will be a third. Can't 
you economize on mistresses and only 
have one every other day ? 

Falcon. You little wretch, I have 
a mind to beat you. 

Erere. Do you love me so much 
as that ? What do you think of my 
hair, Senor Falcon V 

Falcon. Tour hair ! Oh, your hair 
is well enough. 

Erere. What do you think of my 
eyes, Senor Falcon ? 

Falcon. Eyes ! Your eyes are eyes. 
What else should they be ? 

Erere. What do you think of my 
complexion, Senor Falcon ? 

Falcon. Hang your complexion ! 
What do I care for your complexion ? 
If I wasn't in love with you I could 
find an epithet for every inch of 
your body ; I could run over like that 
fountain yonder in comparisons. Do 
you think I love you in parcels, — that 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 187 

I have a measured regard for your 
nose and a deep adoration for your 
eyebrows ? 'Tis you I love : the in- 
domitable, wild thing of grace and 
daring that is named Erere. 

Erere. Well, Senor Falcon, I must 
look in my index. Pastor, Ignacio, 
Angel 

Falcon. Mistress Erere, no more ! 
You may tread on my neck, but you 
cannot fix a chain on it. Take me 
or leave me. For all his sins there 
is an honest gentleman walks in Fal- 
con's shoes, and he'll bide no woman's 
scorn. 

Erere. Senor Falcon, perhaps you 
have erred, and perhaps I have not 
been perfect, but love is in our hearts, 
and love is divine enough to mend 
worse faults than ours. If you want 
me, I am yours. If you don't want 
me, I am yours. Oh, friend, do not 
practise on my fondness ! or, if you 
do, let me not know of it. 



188 BAMQUET OF PALACIOS. 

Enter Jasmin with a casket. 

Jasmin. Senor Falcon, Senor Fal- 
con, if I may take this box of jewels 
I will go with you to-night, else I'll 
not stir a step. 

Erere. Alas, lady, you are too late ! 
For lack of better company, Senor 
Falcon will elope with me. 

Jasmin. With you ! Indeed, with 
you ! Well, you wanted him badly 
enough. Oh, Senor Falcon, how 
could you treat me thus ! I was just 
about to be over head in love with 
you, and you desert me for another. 
'Tis infamous and very unkind in you. 
I will tell Senor Palacios, and he will 
punish you. Alas, what can I do 
now ? I must go back to the house. 
I must be true to my diamonds. 

Enter Palacios. 

Palacios. You here, juggler! 
Twenty of my people are searching 
the wood for you. 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. L89 

Falcon. "What do they or you want 
with me ? 

Palacios. Wait until my men come 
up and I will tell you what I think 
of you. Oh, I will fetch them ! 

Jasmin. Seiior Palacios, you are 
not going to leave me with these 
dangerous people ? 

Palacios. How came you in the 
moonlight so close with them ? 
What have you in your hand ? 

Jasmin. Some of my wedding 
jewels, Senor Palacios. I brought 
them out to comfort me when you 
were so piteously stolen from me an 
hour ago. 

Palacios. Maybe so ! Maybe so ! 

Jasmin. Oh, Senor, you do not 
suspect me ? 

Palacios. I suspect the world. I 
suspect humanity. Look at to-night's 
doings. Out of the nobleness of my 
heart I entertained this company. I 
showed them how I live. I hid noth- 



190 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

ing of my magnificence from them. 
What is my return? I have been 
ridiculed, beaten, abused. Hence- 
forth I separate myself from the 
world. I take my share of fortune's 
gifts, and mankind may have the 
rest. 

Jasmin. Oh, very well, Senor Pa- 
lacios. I will not sue to you. You 
will never know what a heart this 
was till too late. 

Palacios. Dearest Jasmin, you know 
I love you. 

Jasmin. I can go into a convent. 
Yes, indeed ! I can be a nun and 
wear crawly crape things. There's 
ways enough ! It is more than likely 
I will die young. You will not be 
troubled with my fondness, Senor 
Palacios. 

Palacios. Sweet, you are unjust. 
Shall you and I care for nobody in 
the world but ourselves? Shall we 
have an heir to make the next gener- 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 191 

ation hate us? So we shall. But 
you must love me always. 

Jasmin. Oh, how can I help it, 
Senor ? 

Palacios. And you must love my 
things, — this garden — my house — 
the jewels I have given you. 

Jasmin. I do ! I will ! 

Enter Senora Herrara and the Marquis 
Luna de Silva. 

Senora Herrara. Jasmin, Jasmin, 
you unfortunate girl ! Wandering 
in these labyrinths alone and no- 
body knows what has happened to 
you. 

Palacios. Jasmin is safe, madam. 
I will take care of Jasmin. 

Senora Herrara. Is that you, son- 
in-law ? I am so used to gazing up 
at tall people that I overlooked you 
by a head. Marquis, here is Senor 
Palacios. 

Palacios. Madam, I thank you for 



192 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

your condescension. Are you all 
here ? Is Senor Herrara here ? 

Senora Herrara. He comes, and 
that dear Padre Pacifico with him. 
Oh, how I adore talent ! 

Enter Herrara and Pacifico. 

Palaeios. Jasmin, give me leave a 
moment. You who are assembled 
here, one word with all of you. It 
is my fault that all these things have 
happened. I have forgot myself. I 
have been easy and equal with you. 
You may almost have fancied I was 
no better than one of yourselves. 
But that hour is over. Palaeios rules 
in this house. Jasmin is mine, but for 
the rest of you I care not if you take 
the other three corners of the earth 
for your habitation. For you, Senor 
Poet, I desire you to lift your feet. 
They don't take root in my garden. 
This marriage of mine is a prose 
marriage, a matter-of-fact marriage. 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 193 

We want a ring, but not a ring of 
rhymes to make it binding. And 
we don't care for your green couches 
of Arcadia, either. Our beds are 
good enough. To eat w T ell, to have 
somebody to kiss and somebody else 
to kick, — there's life for you, and 
that's an end on 't. So march, and 
get a market for your moonshine 
elsewhere. As for you, Marquis 
Luna de Silva, I beg you to follow 
him and go farther. Jasmin shall 
have all the diamonds and dresses 
she wants, but there shall be no 
nobility in my house. "We shall eat 
off of gold plate, but, thank God, 
we'll have no good manners. For 
you, madam, you can do as you 
please. Jasmin and I are going into 
a corner to court, which you have 
kept us from doing so far. This 
way, Jasmin ; follow me ! [Exit. 

Jasmin. Well, mother, you are 
routed, horse and foot, that's plain. 
17 



194 BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 

I've got to go with the victor. 
Adios, Senor Falcon. I will see you 
again. I will make my husband love 
yon. [Exit 

Herrara. Do yon hear, wife? I 
told yon how this wonld turn ont. 
It's all your fault, Senor Marquis, 
strutting about with your beggarly 
airs of importance like somebody 
from another planet. It is not enough 
to have common sense in the world 
and the richest man at the head of 
the table, but we must bring in the 
distinctions and the dignities of 
dreams to confuse all solid order. 
Where would I be if these things 
were of any use ? I will go after 
Palacios and appease him. I would 
not lose his trade for a dozen daugh- 
ters or a myriad of Marquisates. 

[Exit. 

Senora Herrara. Nevermind, Mar- 
quis. The day is not yet lost. Wait 
till they are married. Jasmin is my 



BANQUET OF PALACIOS. 195 

daughter, and our race is born to 
rule. Let us follow Herrara and 
prevent mischief. 

[Exit Marquis Lum de Silva and 
Senora Herrara. 

Pacifico. Well, my children, the 
generation of the world dismisses 
us. We are driven from the pleas- 
ant places of the earth to find a 
refuge in the desert. 'Tis they are 
the poorer for losing us. Let us 
go. I'll not part with you till I see 
you married. Come, Falcon ; come, 
Erere. I'll love you for Cyprian's 
sake. You twin stars, what have you 
to complain of who have just come 
into the inheritance of each other? 
But I, — my soul is torn from me and 
hurried into the thick woods. I am 
a lifeless trunk that rots to dust. 

Erere. Dear Padre, we will make 
you bud and bloom again. Give 
him your hand, Falcon. 

Falcon. Cheer up, Padre. Come, 



196 BANQUET OF PAL AGIOS. 

Erere. I will take you home to 
Cerita. I will get you the palace 
washing to do, and all will yet be 
well. 



THE END. 



